Nanoparticles and its impact on human health

Nanoparticles, playing vital role in the research area of Nanotechnology has its impacts on human health. Exposure to nanoparticles appears to be associated with persistent inflammation in several different types of tissues and organs. It has been shown both in vitro and in vivo that reactive oxygen radicals are a large contributory factor to inflammation and toxicity caused by ultra fine particles. These are insights that can increase knowledge of the possible link between different nanoparticles and diseases. Formation of DNA adducts has also been linked to nanoparticles, and there are studies that indicate that toxicity is higher for ultra fine particles than for fine particles. There are studies that show that nanoparticles can enter and affect the mitochondria and that they can enter the cell nucleus and induce enzymes. This might lead to increased oxidative stress or involvement in replication or repair of genes. Experts do agree on that it is not possible to generalize and extrapolate knowledge on the toxicological properties of a bulk chemical to the substance at nanoscale. The impact of nanoparticles on human health should therefore be assessed on a case-by-case basis in this paper.