Acute and Chronic Toxicity Effects of Silver Nanoparticles (NPs) on Drosophila melanogaster

The use of nanoscaled materials is rapidly increasing, however, their possible ecotoxicological effects are still not precisely known. This work constitutes the first complex study focused on in vivo evaluation of the acute and chronic toxic effects and toxic limits of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on the eukaryotic organism Drosophila melanogaster. For the purpose of this study, silver NPs were prepared in the form of solid dispersion using microencapsulation method, where mannitol was used as an encapsulation agent. This newly prepared solid dispersion with a high concentration of silver NPs was exploited to prepare the standard Drosophila culture medium at a silver concentration range from 10 mg·L–1 to 100 mg·L–1 of Ag in the case of the acute toxicity testing and at a concentration equal to 5 mg·L–1 in the case of the chronic toxicity testing. The acute toxic effect of silver NPs on Drosophila melanogaster was observed for the silver concentration equal to 20 mg·L–1. At this silver concentration, 50% of ...