Author(s): Reis, Ana Teresa ; Costa, Carla ; Fraga, Sónia
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/9023
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Nacional de Saúde
Subject(s): Nanomaterials; Contaminants; Toxicity; Environment; Nanotoxicology; Human Health; Toxicologia
Nanotechnology and the incorporation of nanomaterials (NM) into everyday products help to solve problems in society and improve the quality of life, allowing for major advances in the technological, industrial, and medical fields. Despite this positive and encouraging side of nanotechnology, the potential risks of NM to human health and the environment, as well as the ethical, legal, and social implications associated with nanotechnology, cannot be disregarded. Indeed, the same characteristics that make NM interesting from a technological application point of view may be undesirable upon their release into the environment. In fact, hundreds of tons of NM are released into the environment every year. The reduced dimensions of NM facilitate their diffusion into and transport through the atmosphere, water, and soil, and as well as their uptake and (bio)accumulation in organisms. Nanotoxicology has emerged as a discipline that seeks to assess the potential risk of NM, integrating knowledge and resources from material science, biology, toxicology, and analytical chemistry. Several studies have alerted us to the risks that certain NM represent for the environment and for our health, depending on their persistence and circulation in ecosystems, on the dose and responses of organisms to acute and chronic exposure to these substances, and on the ability of organisms to (bio)accumulate and/or excrete them. However, knowledge of the harmful effects of these contaminants of emerging concern is still insufficient, including mixture effects. Efforts to advance our knowledge on the reactivity of NM and their effects have been made using mostly in vitro and in vivo models; however, in recent years, in silico approaches and quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) modeling have been gaining more attention. Nanotoxicity assessment using in vitro models gathers important information regarding the mechanism(s) of action of NM at the cellular and molecular levels. These models also offer the benefits of reduced costs and ethical concerns over animal welfare (3Rs principle), usually resulting in the faster toxicity screening of chemicals, an advantage considering the increasing number of materials and contaminant combinations to be tested. However, they lack the complexity and metabolic capabilities that in vivo models provide, which is important in identifying the relationship between exposure dose and the occurrence of adverse effects, and in understanding how the body handles NM in terms of their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). (...)
