Uptake and Accumulation of Engineered Nanomaterials in Plant and Fish.

Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in many consumer products, and in agricultural and food industry. Release of engineered nanomaterials to the environment such as soil and water raises concern over their potential accumulation in agricultural produce, as a result, the risk to food safety. In this study, Au, CuO, CeO₂ and TiO₂ NPs were used to examine their uptake by and accumulation in plant and fish. For Au NPs, the amount of uptake and translocation clearly depended on plant species and the type of surface charge on Au NPs, with negatively charged Au NPs being translocated the most and positively charged Au NPs the least. CuO NPs not only inhibited the growth and development of corn seedlings, but also were translocated to leaves. CuO NPs were also observed in the flowers and harvested seeds of Arabidopsis. CeO₂ NPs could transfer through a terrestrial food chain. TiO₂ NPs were able to transfer from clamworms to juvenile turbots. Moreover, dietary (TiO₂ NPs-treated clamworms) and waterborne TiO₂ NPs exposures led to significantly lower protein and higher lipid contents in turbots, suggesting the nutrition quality reduction of turbots. All these results have implications of Engineered NPs for food quality, safety and security.