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Current Medicinal Chemistry

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 0929-8673
ISSN (Online): 1875-533X

Toxicity of Nanoparticles

Author(s): Maria Antonietta Zoroddu, Serenella Medici, Alessia Ledda, Valeria Marina Nurchi, Joanna I. Lachowicz and Massimiliano Peana

Volume 21, Issue 33, 2014

Page: [3837 - 3853] Pages: 17

DOI: 10.2174/0929867321666140601162314

Price: $65

Abstract

Nowadays more than thousands of different nanoparticles are known, though no well-defined guidelines to evaluate their potential toxicity and to control their exposure are fully provided. The way of entry of nanoparticles together with their specificities such as chemistry, chemical composition, size, shape or morphology, surface charge and area can influence their biological activities and effects. A specific property may give rise to either a safe particle or to a dangerous one. The small size allows nanoparticles to enter the body by crossing several barriers, to pass into the blood stream and lymphatic system from where they can reach organs and tissues and strictly interact with biological structures, thus damaging their normal functions in different ways. This review provides a summary of what is known on the toxicology related to the specificity of nanoparticles, both as technological tools or ambient pollutants. The aim is to highlight their potential hazard and to provide a balanced update on all the important questions and directions that should be focused in the near future.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, toxicity.


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