Toxic effect of triphenyltin in the presence of nano zinc oxide to marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus.

Marine organisms are naturally exposed to different environmental pollutants including organic pollutants and nanoparticles. The interactive effects between nanoparticles and other chemicals on aquatic organisms have raised concerns regarding the potential of nanomaterials as the vector for other chemicals. In the present study, the effect of nano zinc oxide (nZnO) on the bioavailability of triphenyltin chloride (TPTCl) was studied, and their combined acute and reproductive toxicity to the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus were evaluated. At experimental concentration ranges of nZnO in this study, the percentage of dissolution of Zn was relative stable (from 62% to 66%), and nZnO did not affect the bioavailability of TPTCl to the copepods. The acute toxicity of binary mixtures of nZnO/TPT was equivalent to that of the mixture of Zn/TPT. In agreement with the decrease in TPTCl's LC values at the presence of nZnO, their interacting effect was synergistic based on response addition response surface model, and the interacting parameter was modelled to be -1.43. In addition to acute toxicity test, reproductive toxicity tests revealed that exposure to nZnO and TPTCl didn't affect the successful mating rate and the number of nauplii in the 1st brood, but they extended the time for the eggs to hatch from 2.53 days to 3.94 and 3.64 days, respectively. The exposure to nZnO/TPTCl mixture delayed the time to hatch to 5.78 days.