Nanotoxicology

Some of the most complex NP are likely to be produced for therapeutic purposes, with characteristics that are designed to give them properties of prolonging circulation in the blood, homing to specific organs or tissues, escape from phagocytosis, blood-brain barrier translocation, and sustained rele...

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Published inOccupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 61; no. 9; pp. 727 - 728
Main Authors Donaldson, K, Stone, V, Tran, C L, Kreyling, W, Borm, P J A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.09.2004
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
BMJ Group
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Summary:Some of the most complex NP are likely to be produced for therapeutic purposes, with characteristics that are designed to give them properties of prolonging circulation in the blood, homing to specific organs or tissues, escape from phagocytosis, blood-brain barrier translocation, and sustained release of drugs. 12 Furthermore, because of their size and large surface area, NP binding to protein may result in a series of consequences not expected to occur when proteins bind to large particles. Carbon nanotubes are long thin structures which can have diameters of a few nanometres, while the length can be up to many thousands of nanometres. 20 These could have very unusual toxicological properties, in that they share shape characteristics of both fibres and NPs; such limited toxicology as presently exists supports the contention that these may be harmful to the lungs. 21 There is a considerable existing database in the lung particle toxicology literature that shows NP of various sorts to have extra toxicity, 22 by which we mean that the same material in the form of NP is more toxic than in the form of larger, still respirable, particles.
Bibliography:istex:49F33F6A086F4DEB57AAF6AA8913BC4446DE6F3D
PMID:15317911
href:oemed-61-727-1.pdf
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A new frontier in particle toxicology relevant to both the workplace and general environment and to consumer safety
Correspondence to:
 Professor K Donaldson
 ELEGI Colt Laboratory, Wilkie Building, University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH9 8AG, UK; ken.donaldson@ed.ac.uk
ark:/67375/NVC-7QD9PSZV-T
ISSN:1351-0711
1470-7926
DOI:10.1136/oem.2004.013243