Researchers at Queen’s University, Canada, have discovered that nanoparticles – which are now present in everything from clothes to salad dressing and suntan lotion – may be having irreparably damaging effects on soil systems and the environment. Virginia Walker, a professor in the Department of Biology, said, “Millions of tonnes of nanoparticles are now manufactured every year, including silver nanoparticles which are popular as antibacterial agents. We started to wonder what the impact of all these nanoparticles might be on the environment, particularly on soil.” The Queen’s team acquired a soil sample from a remote Arctic site. The team first examined the indigenous microbe communities living in these uncontaminated soil samples, before adding three different kinds of nanoparticles, including silver. The soil samples were left for six months to see how the addition of nanoparticles affected the microbe communities. The original soil analysis had shown the presence of a beneficial microbe that helps fix nitrogen in plants. After six months, the soil sample containing silver nanoparticles had only negligible quantities of the important nitrogen-fixing species remaining. Laboratory experiments showed that this microbe was a million times more susceptible to silver nanoparticles than other species. “We hadn’t thought we would see much of an impact, but instead our results indicate that silver nanoparticles can be classified as highly toxic to microbial communities. This is particularly concerning when you consider the vulnerability of the arctic ecosystem,” said Walker. The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/common-nanoparticles-found-be-highly-toxic-arctic-ecosystem-queens-university-expert