Phytotoxic Effect of sub-3-nm Crystalline Ceria Nanoparticles on the Hydroponic Growth of Daikon Radish Microgreens

Abstract

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (ceria NPs) have been widely used in many industrial applications. They have been proposed as a potential remedy for reducing oxidative stress in biological systems. General concerns over the toxicity of engineered ceria NPs have led to studies of their phytotoxicity in plants. Most of these plant growth studies were conducted in soil using grain crops and commercial ceria NPs of sizes from 6 nm to 100’s nm. In this paper, we report our evaluation of the phytotoxicity and uptake of sub-3-nm crystalline ceria NPs by exposing Daikon radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) microgreens to these NPs with environmentally relevant concentrations under hydroponic growth conditions. Aqueous suspensions of different concentrations of these ceria NPs (0.1 ppm, 1 ppm, and 10 ppm) were applied to these microgreens for the last 7 days of the 12-day growth period. Our results revealed the uptake of cerium by plant roots and the translocation of cerium to the stems and the cotyledons (seed leaves). The accumulation of cerium was found to be maximum at the roots, followed by the cotyledons and the stems of the plants. Even at the lowest concentration (0.1 ppm) of the sub-3-nm ceria NPs, the accumulation of cerium at the roots significantly stunted the root growth. However, these NP treatments did not show significant changes to the distributions of macro-minerals (Mg, K, and Ca) and micro-minerals (Zn and Cu) in the microgreens at the end of the 12-day growth period.