DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2018.v06i04.003

Pages: 312-322

In current work we have investigated the toxic effects of alumina oxide (average grain size of 93 nm) and iron oxide nanoparticles (average grain size of 99 nm) on a terrestrial bioindicator model, Helix aspersa snail using the phenomenon of bioaccumulation of these particles in digestive gland and kidney tissues using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) method. Adult land snail were exposed to 50, 100, 200 and 400 µg/g of both NPs for eight weeks. The results have shown that Al2O3 NPs accumulation increased from 1.3 to 11.13 µg/g dry weight in digestive gland with increasing exposure concentration from 0 µg/g (control group) to 200 µg/g of Al2O3 NPs, the accumulation in the kidneys tissue increased from 1.7 µg/g dry weight in control snails to 10.66 μg/g dry weight in treated with the 400 μg/g concentration. Concerning iron NPs accumulation in both organs increase was consistent with the exposure concentration. Indeed, the accumulated quantities of iron in the digestive gland are slightly higher than those recorded in the kidney. Furthermore, by comparing the bioaccumulation rates, we noticed that the highest amounts of accumulated NPs were observed in aluminum oxide-treated snails compared to those treated with iron oxide. Therefore, the results of this study have confirmed a high bioaccumulation capacity of both nanoparticles, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 in the digestive gland and kidney tissues of the land snail Helix aspersa.