The effect of silica-magnetite nanoparticles on the ecotoxicity of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.

The increase in the production and application of engineered nanomaterials, including nanoparticles (NPs), leads to their discharge into the environment, where they can interact with coexisting antibiotics from wastewater, causing a complicated joint effect on organisms that need to be studied. Herein, a typical engineered nanomaterial, silica-magnetite NPs modified with tetraethoxysilane and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (MTA-NPs, 1-2 g/L), and common antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP, 0-5 mg/L) were selected as the analytes. Their joint toxicity to a model of ciliates infusoria, Paramecium caudatum was specifically investigated.