Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Nanoparticles and
Human Health
A Review of Epidemiological
Studies
Vijaykumar B. Sutariya, Ana Groshev, Vivek Dave,
Hardeep Saluja, Deepak Bhatia, Prabodh Sadana,
and Yashwant Pathak
CONTENTS
9.1 Are Nanoparticles Safe for Human Health? ......................................................................... 175
9.1.1 Predicting and Identifying Health Risks .................................................................. 176
9.2 Toxicokinetics in the Body ................................................................................................... 180
9.2.1 Role of the Route of Exposure in Toxicity................................................................ 180
9.2.2 Role of Specific Nanoparticle Characteristics in Determining Health Effects ........ 182
9.2.3 Nanoparticle Biointeractions and Mechanisms of Toxicity ...................................... 184
9.2.4 Design Biosafety ....................................................................................................... 189
9.3 Health Effects by Category ................................................................................................... 190
9.3.1 Health Effects of Fullerenes ..................................................................................... 190
9.3.2 Health Effects of Carbon Nanotubes ........................................................................ 191
9.3.3 Health Effects of Inorganic Nanoparticles ............................................................... 192
9.3.4 Health Effects of Organic Nanoparticles .................................................................. 193
9.3.5 Health Effects of Quantum Dots .............................................................................. 194
9.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 194
9.5 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 195
References ...................................................................................................................................... 195
9.1 ARE NANOPARTICLES SAFE FOR HUMAN HEALTH?
In the last few decades, nanotechnology has become a very rapidly growing field with ever-
expanding areas of application; thus, understanding the implications of nanomaterials for human
health is important, more so now than ever. With tremendous economic impacts, which are pro-
jected to increase, nanomaterials are utilized in many commonly used materials such as sunscreens,
cosmetics, and tennis balls. To continue reaping the benefits of nanotechnology, it is necessary to
understand the risks and returns of its application. Nanotechnology is a unique field because, when
operating on a nanoscale size, many materials begin to exhibit different properties due to higher
involvement of van der Waal's forces, hydrophobic interactions, and induced dipole forces that are
not as important on a physical scale. This has direct implications in the human body, because, as
familiar as we are with gross anatomy and physiology, nanoparticles experience a multitude of
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