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ZnO nano

There are comparable data on the effect of nano-ZnO (compared to zinc ion toxicity) available for soil invertebrates (4 species), plants (10 species) and soil microorganisms. These data are summarized in this section, where the effect concentrations observed for the Zn2+form are normalized (100%).

From these data, it follows that the toxicity of the nano-ZnO form is in general lower than the toxicity of the zinc ion.Ingestion of solids is a potential risk pathway of greater importance for organisms in soils/sediments than in aquatic systems – potentially a greater chance for exposure to dispersed/aggregated MNPs, and nano particles can be more stable due to e.g. coating or given environmental conditions. However, there is no indication of toxicity deviating from the zinc-ion in the present dataset.

Taking into account the general observed trend, the PNEC derivation for soil, based on the soluble zinc ion, is considered relevant for the nano-ZnO form, too.