Abstract

Carbon nanotubes have become widely used due to their superior physiochemical properties, and so knowledge of their toxicity has become important. In this study, the toxic effects of nanotubes on Caenorhabditis elegans have been investigated. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and particle size analysis. Upon exposure to the nanotubes at concentrations of 100 to 500 mg/L for 3 to 15 days, numbers and body lengths of the nematodes were not altered, but body thickness was raised and body movements were slightly decreased. A new type of toxicity-reproduction assay was performed to see the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The circular-form aggregation of starved larvae was counted. The number of aggregations was reduced with the increasing nanotube concentration by ∼27%. The concentration-dependent reduction was confirmed by counting the eggs in a single worm which demonstrated the negative effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on reproduction when the nematodes were subjected to prolonged exposure.

摘要

碳纳米管因其优越的物理化学性质而被广泛使用，因此了解其毒性变得重要。在这项研究中，纳米管对秀丽隐杆线虫的毒性作用已被调查。通过透射电子显微镜和粒度分析对多壁碳纳米管进行了表征。暴露于浓度为 100 至 500 mg/L 的纳米管 3 至 15 天后，线虫的数量和体长没有改变，但体厚增加，身体运动略有减少。进行了一种新型的毒性再现试验，以观察多壁碳纳米管的效果。计数饥饿幼虫的圆形聚集体。随着纳米管浓度的增加，聚集的数量减少了~27%。通过对单个蠕虫中的卵进行计数来证实浓度依赖性降低，这证明了当线虫长时间暴露时多壁碳纳米管对繁殖的负面影响。