Investigation of the effects of silver nanoparticles and salts on the embronic development of sea urchin

Nanoparticles, which are on the agenda in recent years, are used in many different fields such as health, automotive, food, clothing, textile, electronics and cosmetics. Many countries in the world are one of the main topics that they support by taking large budgets and development plans on nanoparticles. Silver and silver nanoparticles are widely used in different fields from past to present, especially in health and military fields. The environmental effects of the produced nanoparticles are not investigated. The environmental effects of silver nanoparticles have just started to be investigated. We reported that silver ions are more toxic than silver nanoparticles to Arbacia lixula embryos. EC50 were 42,5 μg/L for ionic silver, 1958,8 μg/L for <100 nm nanosilver and 0.3 M for <150 nm nanosilver in A. lixula (72 h incubation at 18oC). In conclusion, A. lixula embryos represents a sensitive and reliable model for testing potential effects of nanoparticles that are dispersed in sea water.