The board and interdisciplinary area of nanotechnology has witnessed an unprecedented explosion of research and product development within the last few years. High expectation and enthusiasm were fuelled through experimental success stories and received a mainly positive response in society. Increasingly more critical voices and a growing body of scientific evidence for nanomaterial related adverse health effects, however, stay in clear contrast to the ongoing rapid market introduction of nanomaterials in numerous consumer products and demand for a more thorough risk evaluations prior to application. As a result, time- and cost-effective research instruments are required as tools for a sustainable and safety oriented product development both in academia and industry. The present contribution investigates a very rapid method to assess critical materials in an early stage of development or product design. The use of physico-chemical properties as primary decision parameters allow a first step of material risk evaluation at the design stage using predominantly accessible data. Based on the current rapidly increasing number of toxicological studies we propose a mapping of nanomaterials along their persistence and chemical activity within biological systems.
References:
L.K. Limbach, P. Wick, P. Manser, R. Grass, A. Bruinink, W.J. Stark, Exposure of Engineered Nanoparticles to Human Lung Epithelial Cells: Influence of Chemical Composition and Catalytic Activity on Oxidative Stress. Env. Sci. Technol published online (2007) DOI: 10.1021/es062629t
L.K Limbach, Y. Li, R.N. Grass, T.J. Brunner, M.A. Hintermann, M. Muller, D. Gunther, W.J Stark, Oxide nanoparticle uptake in human lung fibroblasts: Effects of particle size, agglomeration, and diffusion at low concentrations, Env. Sci. Technol 39, 9370-9376 (2005).
T.J. Brunner, P. Wick, P. Manser, P. Spohn, R.N. Grass, L.K. Limbach, A. Bruinink, W.J. Stark, In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Oxide Nanoparticles: Comparison to Asbestos, Silica, and the Effect of Particle Solubility, Env. Sci. Technol., 40 (14), 4374-81 (2006).
P. Wick, P. Manser, L.K. Limbach, U. Dettlaff-Weglikowska, F. Krumeich, S. Roth, W.J. Stark, A. Bruinink, The degree and kind of agglomeration affect carbon nanotube cytotoxicity, Toxicol. Lett., 168(2), 121-31 (2007).