Nanotoxicology

Nanomaterials are materials that have at least one dimension that ranges in size from 1-100 nm. At this size range, the relative surface area of a material is very large compared to its internal volume. Because chemical and physical reactions occur on material surfaces, nanomaterials have increased potential for enhanced chemical and physical reactions compared to macro-sized materials of the same elemental make up. In addition, molecular forces can significantly change nanomaterial behavior in biological systems and make it difficult to understand and predict its toxicity. The Vulpe lab is part of an international collaboration that investigates how the dimension of silver nanowires influences their toxicity in cells and organisms. Silver nanowires have a significant application as conductors in flexible electronics and touchscreen devices, and this research can help make the synthesis and disposal of silver nanowire – enabled devices to be safer and more sustainable.

Metal mixture toxicity

Metals often exist in the environment as mixtures but current toxicity models fall short of predicting metal toxicity in the presence of other metals. The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) predicts the bioavailability of metals under a large range of water chemistry conditions that occur in nature. However, the BLM falls short of predicting the bioavailability of metals in scenarios were other metals may also compete for the biotic ligand. The Vulpe lab is part of a project in collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines to investigate the potential protective effect of zinc on cadmium toxicity using life cycle toxicity testing of Daphnia magna and RNAseq genomics methods.

Behavioral Toxicology

Organism behavior is quickly gaining traction as an important sub-lethal endpoint for cheap, rapid, and easy testing of chemical toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. The Daphnia magna, an important aquatic indicator species that has already been used for standardized aquatic toxicity testing by the EPA, exhibits unique and measurable behaviors that could serve as more sensitive and informative endpoints of chemical toxicity. The Vulpe lab is working to make behavioral measurements of Daphnia easier to collect using an infrared behavioral tracking system for high-throughput data collection and analysis.

Environmental DNA

Organisms leave behind trace amounts of DNA in their environments (similar to a human shedding skin cells), and sensitive DNA detection methods can extract and identify the presence or absence of organisms in an environment based on the DNA they leave behind. The Vulpe lab uses environmental DNA (eDNA) methods to identify the presence or absence of endangered species and invasive species in aquatic environments.

Our Collaborators

Nancy Denslow, University of Florida
Benjamin Gilbert, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Laurent Charlet, Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Grenoble, France
Caroline Celle, CEA Grenoble, France
Jean Pierre-Simonato, University of Grenoble-Alps, France
Annette Hoffman, University of Lille, France