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. 2017 Jan 5:7:40015.
doi: 10.1038/srep40015.

CO2-induced pH reduction increases physiological toxicity of nano-TiO2 in the mussel Mytilus coruscus

Menghong Hu  1   2 , Daohui Lin  2   3 , Yueyong Shang  1 , Yi Hu  3 , Weiqun Lu  1 , Xizhi Huang  1 , Ke Ning  1 , Yimin Chen  1 , Youji Wang  1   2
Affiliations

CO2-induced pH reduction increases physiological toxicity of nano-TiO2 in the mussel Mytilus coruscus

Menghong Hu et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The increasing usage of nanoparticles has caused their considerable release into the aquatic environment. Meanwhile, anthropogenic CO2 emissions have caused a reduction of seawater pH. However, their combined effects on marine species have not been experimentally evaluated. This study estimated the physiological toxicity of nano-TiO2 in the mussel Mytilus coruscus under high pCO2 (2500-2600 μatm). We found that respiration rate (RR), food absorption efficiency (AE), clearance rate (CR), scope for growth (SFG) and O:N ratio were significantly reduced by nano-TiO2, whereas faecal organic weight rate and ammonia excretion rate (ER) were increased under nano-TiO2 conditions. High pCO2 exerted lower effects on CR, RR, ER and O:N ratio than nano-TiO2. Despite this, significant interactions of CO2-induced pH change and nano-TiO2 were found in RR, ER and O:N ratio. PCA showed close relationships among most test parameters, i.e., RR, CR, AE, SFG and O:N ratio. The normal physiological responses were strongly correlated to a positive SFG with normal pH and no/low nano-TiO2 conditions. Our results indicate that physiological functions of M. coruscus are more severely impaired by the combination of nano-TiO2 and high pCO2.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clearance rate (CR, A), Absorption efficiency (AE, B) and faecal organic weight rate (E, C) of M. coruscus exposed to six treatments for 14 days. The values with different superscripts at each pH are significantly different among three nano-TiO2 treatments (P < 0.05). The values denoted by an asterisk between two pH groups at each n-TiO2 concentration are significantly different (P < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ammonia excretion rate (ER, A), Respiration rate (RR, B) and O:N ratio (C) of M. coruscus exposed to six treatments for 14 days. The values with different superscripts at pH are significantly different among three nano-TiO2 treatments (P < 0.05). The values denoted by an asterisk between two pH groups at each nano-TiO2 concentration are significantly different (P < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Scope for growth (SFG) of M. coruscus exposed to six treatments for 14 days.
The values with different superscripts at each pH are significantly different among three nano-TiO2 treatments (P < 0.05). The values denoted by an asterisk between two pH groups at each nano-TiO2 concentration are significantly different (P < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Principal component analysis (PCA) by integrating all measured parameters (CR, AE, RR, ER, O:N, SFG, E) for four times (days: 1, 3, 7 and 14) and six different treatments (▴–TiO2 0 × pH 8.1, △–TiO2 0 × pH 7.3, ▪–TiO2 2.5 × pH 8.1, ▫–TiO22.5 × pH 7.3, ♦–TiO210 × pH 8.1, ◊–TiO2 10 × pH 7.3) with a biplot.
Both the scores of the experimental conditions and the loadings of the parameters (○) were present.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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