富勒烯及其水溶性衍生物的生态毒性效应研究进展

Review on the research advances in eco-toxicity of fullerene and its water-soluble derivatives

富勒烯(C_(60))作为最具代表性的纳米材料之一,由于其独特的物理化学性质而得到广泛应用。然而,近年来研究发现,富勒烯及其水溶性衍生物能够与生物体作用而产生相应的毒性效应,这引起了学者和政府的关注。系统评述了富勒烯水悬液及水溶性富勒烯衍生物的制备,富勒烯在环境中暴露以及在生物体内的行为;重点介绍了富勒烯及其水溶性衍生物的生态毒性效应研究现状,讨论了其毒性效应可能的机理;最后归纳了影响其毒性效应的因素,并提出了需深入研究的问题。

The paper is to make a general review over the research advances with one of the most representative nanomaterlal fullerene （C60）, which is regarded as a kind of up-to-date nanomaterial with a wide range of applications due to excellent physical and chemical properties. Excellent in use as it is, it has been found that fullerene and its water-soluble derivatives can react to organisms and bring about toxicity to human beings, which has caused enormous concern of scientists and the governmental departments concerned. As is known, fullerene water suspensions and water-soluble fullerene derivatives can be prepared by chemical modification, stabilization of surfactants, solvent exchange and long-term stirring methods. In this way, it can be said that fullerene is likely to be exposed to human bodies via air, water and soil in the environment and in its vivo behavior. Therefore, the paper takes as its central focus the review of the status-quo of the eco-toxicity of fullerene itself and its water-soluble derivatives. As a matter of fact, the current research reports show that fullerene and its water-soluble derivatives are toxic in different levels to the cells, bacteria, invertebrates and fishes. Generation of C60-mediated reactive oxygen species （ROS） can contribute a great deal to the toxicity of fullerene and its water-soluble derivatives. To solve the problem, two ways to deal with the toxicity （cytotoxicity mechanism and genotoxicity mechanism） are proposed. In addition, several important factors influencing the toxicity of fullerene and its water-soluble derivatives are introduced, including the light irradiation, preparation method, molecular structure, nanoparticle size and special object. Moreover, it has to be pointed out that long-term exposure of low concentration C60 can cause oxidative damage to tissues of human bodies. Last of all, some important research perspectives in this field have also been summarized and proposed.