Both short-term and long-term exposure experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) on activated sludge. The short-term presence of 50-200 mg/L of NPs decreased total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies, resulted from the acute toxicity of a shock load of NPs. However, long-term exposure of 50 mg/L magnetic NPs were observed to significantly improve TN removal efficiency, partially due to the self-repair function of activated sludge and magnetic-induced bio-effect. Sludge properties and extracellular polymer substrates secretion were affected. Additional investigations with enzyme and FISH assays indicated that short-term exposure of 50 mg/L magnetic NPs led to the abatement of nitrifying bacteria. However, the activities of the enzyme nitrite oxidoreductase and key denitrifying enzymes were increased after long-term exposure. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.