The Science of the total environment
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Sci. Total Environ. · Sep 2018
ReviewEnvironmental mixtures of nanomaterials and chemicals: The Trojan-horse phenomenon and its relevance for ecotoxicity.
The usage of engineered nanomaterials (NM) offers many novel products and applications with advanced features, but at the same time raises concerns with regard to potential adverse biological effects. Upon release and emission, NM may interact with chemicals in the environment, potentially leading to a co-exposure of organisms and the occurrence of mixture effects. A prominent idea is that NM may act as carriers of chemicals, facilitating and enhancing the entry of substances into cells or organisms, subsequently leading to an increased toxicity. ⋯ A closer inspection of the studies demonstrated that the existing evidence for interference of NM-chemical mixture exposure with uptake and toxicity points into different directions compared to the original Trojan-horse hypothesis. We could discriminate at least 7 different categories to capture the evidence ranging from no changes in uptake and toxicity to an increase in uptake and toxicity upon mixture exposure. Concluding recommendations for the consideration of relevant processes are given, including a proposal for a nomenclature to describe NM-chemical mixture interactions in consistent terms.