As silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are increasingly used in various commercial, industrial and medical applications, there is escalating concern in the risks they may pose to the environment. In this study, three nanosilver treatments (30.6, 122.4, and 367.3 µg L-1) were created from colloidal Creighton AgNPs within environmentally controlled aquaria to closely simulate NIOSH recommended exposure limits and EPA wastewater effluent allowances. The freshwater crayfish, Orconectes virilis, was chosen as the experimental organism because it is a common bioindicator of metal polluted aquatic environments. Control groups included: a) cages emerged into the Hudson River, b) aquaria containing only Hudson River water, c) sodium borohydride (NaBH4), and d) silver nitrate (AgNO3) treatments of stoichiometrically equivalent amounts used for synthesis. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used with two EPA recommended calibration methods (external calibration and standard additions) to measure total silver accumulation in chemically digested tissues. Ag was found to accumulate more readily within the exoskeleton and muscle tissues in the Ag+ treatments, than in the AgNP treatment (by 32.8% and 25.5%, respectively). Conversely, higher Ag levels were detected in the hepatopancreas in the AgNP treatments than in the Ag+ treatments (e.g., 19.2±0.2 versus 16.6±0.2 µg g-1 for the highest AgNP and AgNO3 treatments). In both Ag treatments, gills exhibited similar accumulation levels. This work not only raises concerns about AgNP accumulation in freshwater organisms, but it also demonstrates the utility of O. virilis as an aquatic bioindicator species for ionic and nanosilver.

Bioaccumulation of ionic silver and silver nanoparticles within freshwater crayfish using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy

249th National Meeting (2015)

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