This work describes the effects of pressure on the photoluminescence of Q-CdS (quantum-confined cadmium sulfide) nanoparticles stabilized by hexametaphosphate, calf thymus DNA, polyadenylic acid, polyuridylic acid, and polyadenylic-uridylic acid in the pressure range from atmospheric pressure to 4 kbar. A marked difference is observed between Q-CdS/ polyadenylic acid and that of Q-CdS/polyuridylic acid in terms of pressure-induced changes in the luminescence; coating the surface of each type of Q-CdS with cadmium hydroxide results in a leveling effect whereby only a steady diminution of emission intensity is observed in each case. A model involving pressure-induced perturbation of anionic sulfide hole traps at the semiconductor nanocrystal surface is proposed to explain these observations.