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Recently, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) has been suggested as a tool for detection and sizing of metal nanoparticles (NPs) providing several advantages, such as direct analysis of solid samples, high sample throughput, and robust and cost-efficient instrumentation. For this purpose, evaluation of newly introduced criteria of the absorbance signal, namely, atomization delay (t ad ) and atomization rate (k at ), is performed. However, in real samples, NPs are typically stabilized by either engineered coating reagents or natural materials and occur in unknown concentration. Hence, systematic investigation of possible influences of nine different coating reagents and of Ag concentration on the atomization behavior of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was studied. Evaluation of absorption signal characteristics revealed no influence of the coating or Ag concentration on the observed parameters. Furthermore, size-dependent measurements gave reproducible size correlation independent from the coating. Validity of sizing AgNPs with the proposed approach was successfully proven by investigation of two reference materials. The found size of 74.3 ± 5.9 nm in RM 8017 (NIST) agrees very well with the certified size of 74.6 ± 3.8 nm. Moreover, AgNP size of 25.1 ± 2.5 nm found by direct slurry sampling GFAAS in matrix reference material "NanoLyse13"-chicken meat homogenate spiked with PVP-AgNPs-was in very good agreement with the reference value of 27.3 ± 5.3 nm as determined by TEM.

The technologically interesting properties of palladium nanoparticles (Pd-NPs) allowed their widespread industrial application, although concerns emerged on increasing general and occupational levels of exposure. In this context, to assess the toxicological behavior of Pd-NPs, and particularly their endocrine disruptive potential, has become a public health priority. Therefore, we evaluated Pd-NP impact on the female endocrine reproductive system of Wistar rats sub-chronically treated for 90 days with increasing doses of this xenobiotic (0.12, 1.2, and 12 µg/kg, administered at days 1, 30, and 60 for cumulative doses of 0.36, 3.6, and 36 µg/kg) via the intravenous route. In this regard, we investigated potential alterations in different sex hormone, for example, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone, progesterone, and testosterone, serum concentrations. All treated groups showed significantly greater levels of FSH compared to controls, suggesting a possible impact of Pd-NPs on the regulatory system that controls the normal physiology of female reproductive function. Although relevant, since obtained under sub-chronic, low-dose conditions of exposure resembling those encountered in real-world scenarios, the present results are preliminary and require confirmation as well as identification of the possible underlining molecular mechanisms. From a public and occupational health perspective, implications for the reproductive health of exposed subjects and the next generations of women exposed during their childbearing age or pregnancy should be elucidated. This information is essential to elaborate adequate preventive strategies for assessing and controlling possible Pd-NPs adverse effects on the endocrine system.

The widespread industrial application of nanomaterials (NMs) has dramatically increased the likelihood of environmental and occupational exposure of humans to such xenobiotics. This issue, together with the increasing public health interest in understanding the effects of chemicals on endocrine system, encouraged to investigate the disruptive potential of NMs on the endocrine function. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of palladium nanoparticles (Pd-NPs) on the female reproductive system of Wistar rats, intravenously exposed to different doses (0.12, 1.2, and 12 µg/kg), through the assessment of possible quantitative changes in the serum concentrations of several sex hormones. Our results demonstrated that the highest exposure doses significantly reduced the estradiol and testosterone concentrations, while increased the luteinizing hormone levels in treated animals compared to controls. Such alterations are indicative for an abnormal reproductive axis function. However, further investigations are needed to clarify the role of the different NP physicochemical properties in determining such effects, and possible underlining molecular mechanisms, as well as their relevance for the development of diseases in the female reproductive system. Overall, this may be helpful to define accurate risk assessment and management strategies to protect the health of the general and occupational populations exposed to Pd-NPs.

Recently, palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) have been increasingly used in many industrial sectors, and this has led to a significant release of nano-sized palladium particles into the environment. However, despite the increase in occupational and general population exposure, information on the potential adverse effects of these PdNPs is still limited and their impact on the immune system constitutes a major health concern. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential adverse effects induced by subchronic intravenous administration of PdNPs on the immune system of female Wistar rats by evaluating alterations in Interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), Interferon (INF)-γ, and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α serum levels. Exposed and control animals were randomly divided into five groups (0, 0.012, 0.12, 1.2, and 12 μg PdNPs per kg body weight) which were treated with repeated intravenous injections of vehicle or PdNPs (on day 1, 30, and 60). Subchronic exposure to PdNPs induced a decreasing trend in serum levels in most of the cytokines investigated, with the highest concentration (12 μg/kg) determining significant inhibitory effects. Overall, these results showed that PdNPs are able to alter cytokine serum levels in subchronically treated Wistar rats, suggesting a possible impact of these xenobiotics on the immune system after long-term exposures.

Palladium nanoparticles have been increasingly used in catalytic processes, wastewater treatment, electronics, and biomedicine. However, recent evidence proved that these nanoparticles are able to induce adverse effects both in in vitro and in vivo models. Nevertheless, molecular mechanisms underlying the toxic effects are still poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential toxicological mechanisms of palladium nanoparticles assessing their effects on normal diploid rat fibroblast and lung carcinoma human epithelial cell lines. Several endpoints such as cell growth, cell cycle progression, DNA damage, induction of apoptosis, reactive oxygen species production and expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins were evaluated. Results showed that palladium nanoparticles inhibited cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner in both cell lines, although with a more evident action on fibroblasts. Interestingly, inhibition of cell growth was not associated with the induction of apoptosis. Cell cycle progression was arrested in the G0/G1 phase and DNA damage was evident in both cell lines even if only a slight increase in the intracellular reactive oxygen species levels was detected. These findings provide valuable insight into understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible of palladium nanoparticles toxicity whose identification is essential to define an adequate risk assessment process., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Engineered silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are implemented in food contact materials due to their powerful antimicrobial properties and so may enter the human food chain. Hence, it is desirable to develop easy, sensitive and fast analytical screening methods for the determination of AgNPs in complex biological matrices. This study describes such a method using solid sampling high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). A recently reported novel evaluation strategy uses the atomization delay of the respective GFAAS signal as significant indicator for AgNPs and thereby allows discrimination of AgNPs from ionic silver (Ag(+)) in the samples without elaborate sample pre-treatment. This approach was further developed and applied to a variety of biological samples. Its suitability was approved by investigation of eight different food samples (parsley, apple, pepper, cheese, onion, pasta, maize meal and wheat flour) spiked with ionic silver or AgNPs. Furthermore, the migration of AgNPs from silver-impregnated polypropylene food storage boxes to fresh pepper was observed and a mussel sample obtained from a laboratory exposure study with silver was investigated. The differences in the atomization delays (Δt(ad)) between silver ions and 20-nm AgNPs vary in a range from -2.01 ± 1.38 s for maize meal to +2.06 ± 1.08 s for mussel tissue. However, the differences were significant in all investigated matrices and so indicative of the presence/absence of AgNPs. Moreover, investigation of model matrices (cellulose, gelatine and water) gives the first indication of matrix-dependent trends. Reproducibility and homogeneity tests confirm the applicability of the method.

Background: Information currently available on the impact of palladium on the immune system mainly derives from studies assessing the biological effects of palladium salts. However, in the last years, there has been a notable increase in occupational and environmental levels of fine and ultrafine palladium particles released from automobile catalytic converters, which may play a role in palladium sensitization. In this context, the evaluation of the possible effects exerted by palladium nanoparticles (Pd-NPs) on the immune system is essential to comprehensively assess palladium immunotoxic potential., Aim: Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Pd-NPs on the immune system of female Wistar rats exposed to this xenobiotic for 14 days, by assessing possible quantitative changes in a number of cytokines: IL-1α, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, GM-CSF, INF-γ and TNF-α., Methods: Twenty rats were randomly divided into four exposure groups and one of control. Animals were given a single tail vein injection of vehicle (control group) and different concentrations of Pd-NPs (0.012, 0.12, 1.2 and 12 μg/kg). A multiplex biometric enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to evaluate cytokine serum levels., Results: The mean serum concentrations of all cytokines decreased after the administration of 0.012 μg/kg of Pd-NPs, whereas exceeded the control levels at higher exposure doses. The highest concentration of Pd-NPs (12 μg/kg) induced a significant increase of IL-1α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, GM-CSF and INF-γ compared to controls., Discussion and Conclusions: These results demonstrated that Pd-NP exposure can affect the immune response of rats inducing a stimulatory action that becomes significant at the highest administered dose. Our findings did not show an imbalance between cytokines produced by CD4+ T helper (Th) cells 1 and 2, thus suggesting a generalized stimulation of the immune system with a simultaneous activation and polarization of the naïve T cells towards Th1 and Th2 phenotype.

We propose a novel analytical method for mercury (Hg) trace determination based on direct Hg preconcentration from aqueous solution onto a gold nanoparticle-decorated silica monolith (AuNP@SiO2). Detection of Hg is performed after thermal desorption by means of atomic fluorescence spectrometry. This new methodology benefits from reagent-free, time- and cost-saving procedure, due to most efficient solid-phase adsorbent and results in high sensitive quantification. The excellent analytical performance of the whole procedure is demonstrated by a limit of detection as low as 1.31 ng L(-1) for only one-min accumulation duration. A good reproducibility with standard deviations ≤5.4% is given. The feasibility of the approach in natural waters was confirmed by a recovery experiment in spiked seawater with a recovery rate of 101%. Moreover, the presented method was validated through reference analysis of a submarine groundwater discharge sample by cold vapor-atomic fluorescence spectrometry resulting in a very good agreement of the found values. Hence the novel method is a very promising new tool for low-level Hg monitoring in natural waters providing easy-handling on-site preconcentration, reagent-free stabilization as well as reagent-free, highly sensitive detection.

Within the last years, nanogold has become more and more important in nanotechnology, for example, as catalyst or in medical applications. Its rising production, application, and disposal inevitably lead to an increased emission of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) in the environment. However, only little is known about the uptake and effects of Au-NPs on biota. The objective of this study was to investigate the reversibility and effects of citrate-coated Au-NP uptake into the model organism barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). For this purpose, barley seeds were cultivated in Au-NP-containing nutrient solution for 2 weeks before the seedlings were transferred into Au-NP-free media and grown for another 3 weeks. Stability of Au-NPs in the cultivation media was investigated over the 2-week exposure time. Gold content in the leaves and roots of the plants was measured after 2 weeks of exposure and after 7, 14, and 21 days of regeneration by means of total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analysis after microwave-assisted digestion. Moreover, Au-NPs within plant material were localized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of ultrathin cross sections. The obtained results reveal that Au-NPs accumulate in the plant roots. Concentration-dependent effects on the uptake of macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as on biomass production of exposed plants, in particular, on root growth were observed. Even though exposed barley plants were able to regenerate to a certain extent, their root growth was permanently decreased.

In this work, we present a fast and simple approach for detection of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in biological material (parsley) by solid sampling high-resolution-continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS AAS). A novel evaluation strategy was developed in order to distinguish AgNPs from ionic silver and for sizing of AgNPs. For this purpose, atomisation delay was introduced as significant indication of AgNPs, whereas atomisation rates allow distinction of 20-, 60-, and 80-nm AgNPs. Atomisation delays were found to be higher for samples containing silver ions than for samples containing silver nanoparticles. A maximum difference in atomisation delay normalised by the sample weight of 6.27 ± 0.96 s mg(-1) was obtained after optimisation of the furnace program of the AAS. For this purpose, a multivariate experimental design was used varying atomisation temperature, atomisation heating rate and pyrolysis temperature. Atomisation rates were calculated as the slope of the first inflection point of the absorbance signals and correlated with the size of the AgNPs in the biological sample. Hence, solid sampling HR-CS AAS was proved to be a promising tool for identifying and distinguishing silver nanoparticles from ionic silver directly in solid biological samples.

Capable of preserving the size and shape of nanoparticles, a novel method to effectively and selectively extract noble metal nanoparticles even at the 80 ng L(-1) level from real environmental water was designed and performed using a noncovalent reversible adsorption onto an ionic exchange resin.