MARINE

ENVIRONMENTAL
RESEARCH
Marine Environmental Research 62 (2006) S5S9
www.elsevier.com/locate/marenvrev

Short communication

Toxicity of an engineered nanoparticle

(fullerene, C60) in two aquatic species, Daphnia
and fathead minnow q
Shiqian Zhu a, Eva Oberdorster
a

b,c

, Mary L. Haasch

a,*

Environmental Toxicology Research Program, National Center for Natural Products Research,
Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi,
347 Faser, University, MS 38677-1848, USA
b
Department of Biology, Southern Methodist University, TX, USA
c
Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, NC, USA

Abstract
Water-soluble fullerene (nC60) has been shown to induce lipid peroxidation (LPO) in brain of
juvenile largemouth bass (LMB, Micropterus salmoides) [Oberdorster, E., 2004. Manufactured
nanomaterials (fullerenes, C60) induce oxidative stress in brain of juvenile largemouth bass. Environ.
Health Persp. 112, 10581062]; and upregulate genes related to the inammatory response and
metabolism, most notably CYP2K4 [Oberdorster, G., Oberdorster, E., Oberdorster, J., 2005. Nanotoxicology: an emerging discipline evolving from 116 studies of ultrane particles. Environ. Health
Persp. 113, 823839]. The initial study in LMB was performed using tetrahydrofuran (THF)-solubilized nC60, although C60 can also be solubilized by stirring in water. The current study investigates
dierences in acute toxicity to Daphnia magna between THF-solubilized and water-stirred-nC60 as a
range-nd for further assays in adult male fathead minnow (FHM, Pimephales promelas). The daphnia 48-h LC50 for THF-nC60 was at least one order of magnitude less (0.8 ppm) than that for waterstirred-nC60 (>35 ppm). FHM were dosed with either 0.5 ppm of THF- or water-stirred-nC60 for
48 h. There was 100% mortality in the THF-nC60-exposed sh between 6 and 18 h, while the
q
Supported by the Environmental Toxicology Research Program, National Center for Natural Products
Research, The University of Mississippi, MS, USA to S.Z. and M.L.H.; and the Lonestar Nanotechnology Fund
to E.O.
*
Corresponding author. Address: USEPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Molecular and Cellular
Mechanisms Research Branch, 6201 Congdon Boulevard, Duluth, MN 55804, USA; Tel.: +1 218 529 5172;
fax: +1 218 529 5003.
E-mail addresses: mlhaasch@olemiss.edu, Haasch.Mary@epa.gov (M.L. Haasch).

0141-1136/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2006.04.059

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S. Zhu et al. / Marine Environmental Research 62 (2006) S5S9

water-stirred-nC60-exposed sh showed no obvious physical eects after 48 h. Water-stirred-nC60 elevated LPO in brain, signicantly increased LPO in gill, and signicantly increased expression of
CYP2 family isozymes in liver as compared to control sh.
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Nanotoxicology; Fullerene; CYP2; Lipid peroxidation; LC50

Engineered nanoparticles (NP) are being used in a variety of products from sporting
equipment to cosmetics; clothing to solar cells. Carbon NP such as C60 are lipophilic,
which allows them to interact with membranes of all types (Foley et al., 2002; Kamat
et al., 2000). Due to the interesting electron-donating and -accepting properties of C60,
it has been found that modied C60 can release oxyradicals in in vitro systems (Kamat
et al., 2000; Yamakoshi et al., 2003), or act as an oxyradical scavenger (Lee et al.,
2000). It is dicult to predict whether fullerene will act as an anti- or pro-oxidant in vivo.
Un-modied C60 is not immediately water soluble, and there are two methods of solubilization. Both methods form stable aggregates of C60 with diameters ranging from 10 to
200 nm, termed nano-C60 or nC60. The clusters contain neat C60 in the centers, surrounded
by partially hydroxylated C60 on the outside, which make up less than 1% of the total C60
in solution (Fortner et al., 2005). In the THF-method, the C60 is rst solubilized in tetrahydrofuran (THF), then mixed with water, and nally THF is evaporated away. This is a
rapid method, but a residual amount of THF may be trapped in the center of the aggregates (Fortner et al., 2005), which likely leads to the dierences in toxicity seen in this
study. The water-stirred method takes more time (stirring for weeks) but is environmentally more relevant as it mimics wave movement and does not contain organic solvents
(for details on the methods see Oberdorster, 2005).
Fullerene (99.5% pure) was purchased from SES Research (Houston, TX) and was solubilized in either THF or water-only using standard protocols (Oberdorster, 2005). As a
range-nd assay, acute toxicity of THF- and water-stirred-nC60 was determined in a 48 h
LC50 assay on Daphnia magna using the standard US EPA protocol for static renewal testing (EPA, 1994). The 48 h LC50 for THF-nC60 was considerably lower (more toxic) than
the 48 h LC50 for water-stirred-nC60 (0.8 ppm compared to >35 ppm, respectively;
Fig. 1).
Adult male fathead minnows (FHM) were dosed individually with either (a) reconstituted hard water (RHW), (b) 0.5 ppm water-stirred-nC60 in RHW, or (c) 0.5 ppm THFnC60 in RHW (n = 10 controls, n = 5 each of the two nC60 exposures) in 1 L aquaria
for 48 h, with a 50% water change at 24 h. Fish were euthanized using MS-222, and tissues
from each sh were ash frozen. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was determined as previously
described using the malonaldehyde method in brain and gill (Oberdorster, 2004). Statistical analysis was done using SYSTAT 8.0, using student t-test.
Immunodetection was performed using rabbit anti-trout CYP2K1 and CYP2M1 polyclonal antibodies (generous gift from Donald R. Buhler, Oregon State University) essentially as previously described (Haasch, 2002). Following densitometry, one outlier control
value was removed and the data were log-transformed prior to statistical analyses using
GraphPad Prism 4.0 (GraphPad Software, Inc, San Diego, CA).
Unlike the previous studies in largemouth bass (LMB) using THF-nC60 (Oberdorster,
2004), FHM exposed to 0.5 ppm of THF-nC60 died within 18 h of exposure. Water-stirred-

S. Zhu et al. / Marine Environmental Research 62 (2006) S5S9

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Cumulative mortality of D. magna exposed to nC60 (THF method)

% mortality

100
Control
5 ppb
10 ppb
25 ppb
100 ppb
500 ppb
1000 ppb
2000 ppb

80
60
40
20
0
0

day of exposure
B

Cumulative mortality in D. magna exposed to nC60 (water-stirred method)

100

Control
0.5 ppm
1ppm
2.5 ppm
5 ppm
35 ppm

% mortality

80
60
40
20
0

4
5
3
day of exposure

Fig. 1. Mortality curves for Daphnia magna exposed to either THF- (A) or water-stirred-nC60 (B). The THF-nC60
is at least one order of magnitude more toxic than the water-stirred-nC60, highlighting the importance of relevant
preparation techniques for aquatic toxicity testing. The 48 h LC50 for THF-nC60 was calculated to be 0.8 ppm
(800 ppb), and the 48 h LC50 for water-stirred-nC60 was >35 ppm.

nC60 exposed FHM brain tissue exhibited elevated, although not statistically signicant,
LPO, while in gill there was statistically higher LPO (data not shown).
Hepatic levels of some CYP2-like isozymes were signicantly increased (Fig. 2). One
induced protein was immunoreactive with anti-CYP2K1 (53 kDa), and two proteins
were immunoreactive with anti-CYP2M1, of which the higher MW protein (53 kDa),
was signicantly induced. These probable CYP2-family isozymes have not previously been
described in FHM. This is the rst in vivo example, in any species, of changes in P450 protein expression due to nC60 exposure.
The method of nC60 preparation can aect the toxicity of fullerene, with THF-nC60
more toxic than water-stirred-nC60 in both daphnia and FHM. Anecdotal evidence and
data not presented here shows that even sonicating C60 to get it into solution more quickly
increases the toxicity of nC60. It is therefore critical to use environmentally-relevant doses
and preparation techniques.
Exposure to water-stirred-nC60 can induce CYP2 isozymes in exposed sh at relatively
low levels (0.5 ppm) and within a short time (48 h). Fullerene can increase LPO in sh
exposed via the water column, similar to what has been found previously (Oberdorster,

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S. Zhu et al. / Marine Environmental Research 62 (2006) S5S9

Fig. 2. Signicant induction of CYP2-family isozymes in male fathead minnow by 0.5 ppm, 48 h, water-stirrednC60 exposure. (A) CYP2K1-like protein (53 kDa), (B) CYP2M1-like Protein 1 (53 kDa), (C) CYP2M1-like
Protein 2 (48 kDa).

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2004). Up-regulated CYP2 isozymes may function in metabolizing fullerene or in repairing

LPO. Future research needs to address uptake, distribution, biotransformation and the
pathway-specic changes in gene expression due to exposure to nanomaterials.
Acknowledgments
E.O. solubilized the fullerene, performed the acute toxicity assays in Daphnia magna,
exposed the FHM in her laboratory, and performed the LPO assays. S.Z. performed
the FHM immunodetection and analysis in the laboratory of M.L.H.
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