Nano-Toxicology - An introduction

1. NANO-TOXICOLOGICAL ISSUES
INTRODUCTION:
 Nanoparticles interact with living cell at different levels depending upon the size.
 Particle size play very important role while discussing about nanotoxicity.
 Various studies suggest that nanoparticles DIAMETERS:
 less than 100 nm can enter cells,
 diameters < 40 nm can enter the cell nucleus and
 <<35 nm can pass through the blood–brain barrier and enter the brain.
 The knowledge about nanotoxicity help to identify the key safety issues in implementing
nanoscience for health application, by investigating
 interaction of nanoparticles and biological systems (i.e., proteins, cells) and
 elucidating the relationship between the physical and chemical properties like
 size, shape,
 surface chemistry, composition, and
 aggregation with respect to toxic biological responses.
SOME TOXIC ISSUES:
1. Oxidative stress induced by nanoparticles can enhance inflammation through up
regulation of redox sensitive transcription.
2. Nanoparticles can also alter mitochondrial function as well as cellular redox signaling.
PROGRESS IN TOXIC ELIMINATION:
 Use of approved materials by official authority in development of carrier system would be helpful
in minimizing toxic effects.
 International Alliance for Nano EHS Harmonization (IANH), working in direction of setting in vitro
and in vivo nanomaterial Nano EHS testing protocols that are validated
 to produce the same results in multiple laboratories internationally and
 correlating the obtained results with obtained or predictive in-vivo data.