Vol. 10, Special Issue 5 (2021)

Author(s):
Ujjwala Upreti, Avdhesh Kumar and Anurag Semwal

Abstract:
The fate and result of nanomaterials within the surroundings has raised concern pointing towards their environmental risk to aquatic organisms. Silica nanoparticles (SiO₂-NPs) have wide applications in diverse fields such as medicine, cosmetics, engineering etc and are unavoidably released into the environment. However, the ecotoxicological effects of SiO₂-NPs on the freshwater fish remain out of action. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Silica oxide nanoparticles on hematology and survival of freshwater fish Labeo rohita fingerlings. The fingerlings of average length 7.5 ± 1.5 cm, weighing 50±10 g were exposed to different Silica oxide doses (T1, T2 and T3) along with a Control group (without any Silica oxide dose) in triplicates and further effects on survival and hematology were recorded after an exposure period of 15 days. The result of the present study suggested that survival of the fish and alterations in hematology are both, dose dependent and time dependent in terms of exposure to the Silica oxide nanoparticles. A significant decrease in the blood parameters (Total erythrocyte corpuscles, Total leucocyte corpuscles, Hemoglobin and Mean corpuscular hemoglobin) of fish were recorded, both, at the end of the experiment and with increasing concentration of nanoparticles in different treatment groups. Meanwhile the of the fish fingerlings survival was not affected in any of the SiO2 treated groups during the experimental period.