Toxicity mitigation by N-acetylcysteine and synergistic toxic effect of nano and bulk ZnO to Panagrellus redivivus

Our studies have shown that NAC can mitigate the toxic effects of both studied particle sizes. In the applied concentrations, ZnCl₂ was less toxic than both of the ZnO particles. This finding indicates that not only ions and ROS produced by the dissolution are behind the toxic effects of the ZnO NPs, but other particle size-dependent toxic effects, like the spontaneous ROS generation, are also relevant. When the two materials were applied in binary mixtures, the toxic effects increased significantly, the dissolved zinc content and the ROS generation also increased. It is assumed that the chemical and physical properties of the materials have been mutually reinforcing to form a more reactive mixture that is more toxic to the <i>P. redivivus </i>test organism.