Page 220 - Environmental Nanotechnology Applications and Impacts of Nanomaterials

Chapter
6

Principles and Procedures

to Assess Nanomaterial Toxicity

Michael Kovochich University of California, Los Angeles, California
Tian Xia University of California, Los Angeles, California
Jimmy Xu Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Joanne I.Yeh University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Andre E. Nel University of California, Los Angeles, California

Introduction
By some estimates, nanotechnology promises to far exceed the impact
of the Industrial Revolution and is projected to develop into a $1 trillion
market by 2015. Manufactured nanomaterials (NM, see list of abbre-
viations at the end of this chapter) are already being used in sporting
goods, tires, stain-resistant clothing, sunscreens, cosmetics, and elec-
tronics, and they will also be increasingly used in medicine for purposes
of diagnosis, imaging, and drug delivery. The unique physico-chemical
properties of engineered NM are attributable to their small size, large
surface area, durability, chemical composition, crystallinity, electronic
properties, surface reactivity, surface groups, surface coatings, solu-
bility, shape, and aggregation. Although impressive from a physico-
chemical viewpoint, the novel properties of NM raise the possibility that
they could interact with and cause damage to biological components or
systems. Indeed, a number of studies have suggested that not all
NM are benign and some have the ability to cause adverse biological
effects at cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels [1–12]. These poten-
tially harmful effects could be enhanced by the ability of nanoparticles

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