Characterization and toxicology evaluation of zirconium oxide nanoparticles on the embryonic development of zebrafish, Danio rerio.

Zirconia oxide nanoparticles (ZrONPs) are known to be one of the neutral bioceramic metal compounds that has been widely used for their beneficial applications in many biomedical areas, in dental implants, bone joint replacements, drug delivery vehicles, and in various industrial applications. To study the effects of ZrONPs on zebrafish model, we used early life stages of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) to examine such effects on embryonic development in this species. ZrONPs were synthesized by the sol-gel method, size about 15-20 nm and characterized by SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis Spectra. In this study, zebrafish embryos were treated with ZrONPs 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 μg of nanoparticles/ml during 24-96 hour post fertilization (hpf). The results showed that ≥0.5-1 μg/ml of ZrONPs instigated developmental acute toxicity in these embryos, causing mortality, hatching delay, and malformation. ZrONPs exposure induced axis bent, tail bent, spinal cord curvature, yolk-sac, and pericardial edema. A typical phenotype was observed as an unhatched dead embryo at ≥1 μg/ml of ZrONPs exposure. This study is one of the first reports on developmental toxicity of zebrafish embryos caused by zirconium oxide nanoparticles in aquatic environments. Our results show that exposure of zirconium oxide nanoparticles is more toxic to embryonic zebrafish at lower concentrations. The results will contribute to the current understanding of the potential biomedical toxicological effects of nanoparticles and support the safety evaluation and synthesis of Zirconia oxide nanoparticles.