Toxicity of Nanoparticles and Its Evaluation
Keywords:
nanoparticles, toxicity, risk assessment, genotoxicityAbstract
Chemicals in nanoparticles (NP) often have different toxicological properties in comparison with their macroscopic forms. Therefore it is necessary to introduce a new procedure for the health risk assessments. The effect of NP on the human body depends on the NP entry location, NP size and also on pH inside organs and tissues. NP may have a negative effect, e.g. on for the central nervous or cardiovascular system function. When evaluating toxicity, emphasis is aimed on the genotoxicity evaluation if standard tests do not provide complete relevant information. For this reason, new tests have been developed to allow evaluation of the potential risks properly. Currently the forms a legislative are created which seek to describe differences between NPs and substances occurring in macroscopic form. This review summarizes most important topics in toxicology of NP.