Molecular & Cellular Toxicology

, Volume 9, Issue 3, pp 205–210

Toxicity evaluation of inorganic nanoparticles: considerations and challenges

Review Paper

DOI: 10.1007/s13273-013-0026-z

Cite this article as:
Choi, SJ., Lee, J.K., Jeong, J. et al. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. (2013) 9: 205. doi:10.1007/s13273-013-0026-z

Abstract

Toxicity evaluation of inorganic nanoparticles in cell lines and in whole animals has been extensively explored in recent years. However, conflicting results have been reported regarding size-dependent toxicity and biokinetics in vitro and in vivo, and thus, basic questions regarding whether nanoparticles, ranged from 1 to 100 nm in size, are comparatively more toxic than larger-sized particles remain unanswered. This may be closely associated with changes in physicochemical properties of nanoparticles in biological fluids. Understanding in vivo physiological barriers, biological fates, and absorption mechanism of nanoparticles upon exposure routes will be useful to predict their toxicity potential. This review will highlight the critical points to be considered in order to evaluate the toxicity of inorganic nanoparticles, and discuss the issues and challenges emerging in the field of nanotoxicology.

Keywords

Inorganic nanoparticles Toxicity Physicochemical property Physiological barriers Absorption mechanism 

Copyright information

© The Korean Society of Toxicogenomics and Toxicoproteomics and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Food Science and TechnologySeoul Women’s UniversitySeoulKorea
  2. 2.Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food & Drug Safety EvaluationKFDAChungchungbuk-doKorea
  3. 3.Center for Intelligent Nano-Bio Materials (CINBM), Department of Bioinspired Science and Department of Chemistry and Nano Science (Ewha Global Top 5 program-2011)Ewha Womans UniversitySeoulKorea

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