Toward safer multi-walled carbon nanotube design: Establishing a statistical model that relates surface charge and embryonic zebrafish mortality.

TitleToward safer multi-walled carbon nanotube design: Establishing a statistical model that relates surface charge and embryonic zebrafish mortality.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsGilbertson, LM, Melnikov, F, Wehmas, LC, Anastas, PT, Tanguay, RL, Zimmerman, JB
JournalNanotoxicology
Volume10
Issue1
Pagination10-9
Date Published2016
ISSN1743-5404
KeywordsAnimals, Embryo, Nonmammalian, Logistic Models, Models, Statistical, Nanotubes, Carbon, Surface Properties, Temperature, Zebrafish
Abstract

Given the increased utility and lack of consensus regarding carbon nanotube (CNT) environmental and human health hazards, there is a growing demand for guidelines that inform safer CNT design. In this study, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model is utilized as a stable, sensitive biological system to evaluate the bioactivity of systematically modified and comprehensively characterized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). MWNTs were treated with strong acid to introduce oxygen functional groups, which were then systematically thermally reduced and removed using an inert temperature treatment. While 25 phenotypic endpoints were evaluated at 24 and 120 hours post-fertilization (hpf), high mortality at 24 hpf prevented further resolution of the mode of toxicity leading to mortality. Advanced multivariate statistical methods are employed to establish a model that identifies those MWNT physicochemical properties that best estimate the probability of observing an adverse outcome. The physicochemical properties considered in this study include surface charge, percent surface oxygen, dispersed aggregate size and morphology and electrochemical activity. Of the five physicochemical properties, surface charge, quantified as the point of zero charge (PZC), was determined as the best predictor of mortality at 24 hpf. From a design perspective, the identification of this property-hazard relationship establishes a foundation for the development of design guidelines for MWNTs with reduced hazard.

DOI10.3109/17435390.2014.996193
Alternate JournalNanotoxicology
PubMed ID25676623
PubMed Central IDPMC4947549
Grant ListP30 ES000210 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
T32 ES007060 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
T32 ES07060 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States