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 P. redivivus test
organism.