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quinta-feira, 5 de julho de 2012

Researchers investigate cytotoxicity of commercial silica nanoparticles

Scientists have demonstrated that long-term exposure to silica nanoparticles has toxic effects in both mouse and human cell when tested in vitro.
The researchers tested two types of commercial nanoparticles used in paper coating applications, Ludox CL and Ludox CL-X with different physico-chemical characteristics, in the mouse cell line 3T3-L1 and the human cell line WI-38. Cells were exposed for between 72 hours and 7 days. The CL silica nanoparticles were cytotoxic only in human cells, whereas the CL-X nanoparticles were toxic to both cell lines.
The authors highlight that longer exposure studies such as this provide important insights on the impact of nanomaterials on cells, but emphasize the importance of including a detailed physico-chemical characterization of the nanoparticles and their dispersion over time in such studies to allow the eventual impact on cells to be fully evaluated.
The researchers were from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment alongside the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Poland and the Centre for BioNano Interactions in Ireland. The study is published inToxicology and Applied Pharmacology.


Fonte: Chemical Watch