Insights into the lower trophic transfer of silver ions than silver containing nanoparticles along an aquatic food chain

Abstract Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) released into the environment are subject to environmental transformation processes before accumulating in aquatic organisms and transferring along the food chain. Lack of understanding on how environmental transformation affects trophic transfer of AgNPs hinders accurate prediction of the environmental risks of these widely present nanomaterials. Here we discover that pristine AgNPs as well as their sulfidation products (Ag2S-NPs) and dissolution products (Ag+) tend to be accumulated in Daphnia magna and subsequently transferred to zebrafish. In D. magna, Ag+ exhibits the highest bioaccumulation potential whereas Ag2S-NPs show the lowest bioaccumulation. Surprisingly, the biomagnification factor of Ag+ along the D. magna-zebrafish food chain appears to be significantly lower relative to AgNPs and Ag2S-NPs, likely due to the limited release of Ag from D. magna to zebrafish during digestion. Moreover, AgNPs and their transformation products mainly accumulate in the internal organs, particularly intestine, of zebrafish. Adsorption of AgNPs on the surface of the intestinal cell membrane mitigates depuration of AgNPs and, at least in part, leads to the larger biomagnification factor of AgNPs, relative to their transformation products. This research highlights the necessity of considering environmental transformation processes of nanomaterials in assessing their bioavailability and risk.