Evaluation of DNA damage and lipoperoxidation content in red earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus exposed to zinc oxide nanoparticles

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

Manufactured nanoparticles have a wide range of application due to their advantageous properties when
compared with their bulk forms. There is a growing concern regarding the safety of nanoparticles. This study
aimed to evaluate the cell membrane lipoperoxidation (LPO) and DNA integrity in red earthworm Lumbricus
rubellus when exposed to artificial soil systems containing different concentration of zinc oxide nanoparticles
(n-ZnO).
Exposure to n-ZnO led to an increase in LPO content and DNA damage (in terms of halos) in earthworm
coelomocytes. We identified a positive strong correlation (r = +0.891, p<0.01) between LPO and DNA
damage/halos. In summary, we show that n-ZnO is toxic to soil organisms and may imposed a sever oxidative stress/LPO leading to DNA damages.

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