Toxicological responses of surfactant functionalized selenium nanoparticles: A quantitative multi-assay approach

The utilization of selenium nanomaterials (Se Nps) in material and biological science is quickly growing, crafting an imperative need for toxicological evaluation of the exposure prospective and environmental consequences of Se Nps. The combination of quantitative multi-assay approach into environmental toxicological analysis has provided novel opportunities to build up effective markers and scrutinize the means of venomous nature of Se Nps in the current study. In the present work, we analyzed the toxicological effect of bare and surface functionalized Se Nps by using multi assay viz. seed germination studies as a function of concentration of SeNps and by using antifungal assays. The influence of SeNps on bacterial activities were also investigated by using the S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. typhi bacterial strains as widespread marker species for antibacterial studies. The ocular assessment of chlorophyll content was maximum for Brij coated Se NPs (98%) as compared to bare (20%), SDS (45%) and CTAB (38%) coated SeNps. The existence of chromosomal aberrations in root meristems of A. cepa(A. cepa) with computed MI values of 16, 25, 33 and 52% for bare, CTAB, SDS and Brij coated particles has indicated the genotoxic effects of SeNps. The biocompatible nature of Brij coated Se Nps was observed from the faster mobility of DNA in gel electrophoresis studies. The investigational studies in the current work appraise the toxicity and measure the competence of obtained data to characterize possibilities of probable threats, prominence of data requirement and breaches that must be filled to diminish the ambiguities about the safe use of Se Nps.