Does carbon nanopowder threaten amphibian development?

Lethal and teratogenic potentials of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) in their amorphous form were investigated by the standardized Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus (FETAX), a 96-h in vitro whole-embryo toxicity test based on the amphibian Xenopus laevis. Embryos were acutely exposed to 1, 10, 100 and 500 mg/L CNP suspensions and evaluated for lethality, malformations and growth inhibition. Larvae were processed for histological and ultrastructural analyses to detect the main affected organs, to look for specific lesions at the subcellular level and to image and track CNPs into tissues. Only the highest CNP suspension resulted in being embryolethal for X. laevis larvae, while malformed larva percentages significantly differed from controls starting from 100 mg/L. The stomach and gut were the preferential CNP accumulation sites, on the contrary, the digestive epithelium remained intact. The analyses showed the presence of isolated nanoparticles and/or aggregates in different secondary target organs. CNPs were found in circulating erythrocytes. The research confirms the good tolerance of X. laevis towards pure elemental carbon in its nanoparticulate amorphous form, but highlights the possibility of CNP transfer toward all body areas.