Nanotoxicology

As the production and use of nanomaterials (NMs) in medicine and many other applications develops, so the need to understand the potential risks posed by NMs to human health (and the environment) increases (Aitken et al. 2006). At the nanoscale (1-100 nm), materials exhibit properties that are different to larger or bulk materials. These new properties are exploited by researchers and industry to generate new products; however, the same properties can also inuence how the NM behaves in biological systems, including affecting toxicity. Nanotoxicology is a relatively new eld of research that aims to assess the human and environmental hazard of nanomaterials. In recent years, this new discipline has seen a rapid expansion in the number of studies concerned with assessing the safety of engineered NMs (Figure 20.1)