Exposure studies of core-shell Fe/Fe3O4 and Cu/CuO NPs to lettuce (Lactuca sativa) plants: Are they a potential physiological and nutritional hazard?

Iron and copper nanomaterials are widely used in environmental remediation and agriculture. However, their effects on physiological parameters and nutritional quality of terrestrial plants such as lettuce (Lactuca sativa) are still unknown. In this research, 18-day-old hydroponically grown lettuce seedlings were treated for 15 days with core-shell nanoscale materials (Fe/Fe3O4, Cu/CuO) at 10 and 20 mg/L, and FeSO4·7H2O and CuSO4·5H2O at 10 mg/L. At harvest, Fe, Cu, micro and macronutrients were determined by ICP-OES. Also, we evaluated chlorophyll content, plant growth, and catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities. Our results showed that iron ions/NPs did not affect the physiological parameters with respect to water control. Conversely, Cu ions/NPs reduced water content, root length, and dry biomass of the lettuce plants. ICP-OES results showed that nano-Cu/CuO treatments produced significant accumulation of Cu in roots compared to the CuSO4·5H2O treatment. In roots, all Cu treatments increased CAT activity but decreased APX activity. In addition, relative to the control, nano-Cu/CuO altered the nutritional quality of lettuce, since the treated plants had significantly more Cu, Al and S but less Mn, P, Ca, and Mg.