Xinyu Yang

TL;DR: It is found that a lower ionic strength medium resulted in greater toxicity (measured as growth inhibition) of all tested Ag NPs to Caenorhabditis elegans and that both dissolved silver and coating influenced Ag NP toxicity.

TL;DR: It is suggested that even partial sulfidation of AgNP will decrease the toxicity of AgNPs relative to their pristine counterparts, and the presence of chloride in the exposure media strongly affects the toxicity results by affecting Ag speciation.

TL;DR: This work characterized the physicochemical behavior, uptake, toxicity, and mechanism of toxicity of three AgNPs with different sizes and polyvinylpyrrolidone or citrate coatings to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and described a modified growth assay that permits differentiation between direct growth-inhibitory effects and indirect inhibition mediated by toxicity to the food source.

TL;DR: Measurement of total tissue silver content indicated that PLFA reduced total organismal uptake of ionic silver, but not of citrate-coated Ag NPs (CIT-Ag NPs), and co-exposure to PLFA resulted in the formation of NOM-Ag NP composites and rescued AgNO3- and CIT- Ag NP-induced cellular damage.

TL;DR: Results show that coatings on theAgNPs surface and the particle size make a clear contribution to the toxicity of the AgNPs, and oxidative stress-related mitochondrial and DNA damage appear to be potential mechanisms of toxicity.