Toxicity mechanisms of ionic silver and polymer-coated silver nanoparticles with interactions of functionalized carbon nanotubes on early development stages of sea urchin

Exposures of aquatic organisms to multiple contaminants are likely to take place in estuarine and coastal areas and combined effects on early life stages have to be examined. Among emerging contaminants, ionic silver (Ag+) and silver nanoparticles (AgNps) have demonstrated contrasting effects on marine invertebrates, but their interactions with functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) have not yet been investigated in details. In order to observe the impacts and understand the toxicity mechanism of Ag+ and polymer-coated AgNps, and their combined effects with f-SWCNTs, successive development stages of embryos of sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, were exposed to Ag+, AgNps and f-SWCNTs, separately and in mixtures using moderate environmental concentrations. We also assessed long-term effects of treatments under recovery conditions. Morphological endpoints such as archenteron elongation, primary and secondary mesenchyme cells fate, pigment cells migration, spiculogenic cells and gut development indicated different effects of silver and nanosilver forms during successive development stages. Whereas Ag+ induced vegetalization and extrusion of mesenchyme cells on early embryos; f-SWCNTs + Ag+ strongly interfered with gut regionalization in late larvae. Sensitive blastocoelar cells got vacuolized and shapeless with AgNps, but not with mixtures with f-SWCNTs. Increased concentrations of Ag+ and f-SWCNTs + Ag+ led to the most disruptive effects during development, but f-SWCNTs + Ag+ caused the highest mortality rate during the recovery period, which indicated far-reaching effects driven by f-SWCNTs and their ability to keep silver more available during exposure period.