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Synthesis

Knowledge vs uncertainties

The available data is limited to short-term effects and that certain nanoparticles which have unexpected behavior, especially the ability to cross biological barriers, may lead to their dispersion in the organism, the scientific community emphasises the need for research work in vivo in order to:

  • specify the biological behavior of nanoparticles whose physicochemical characteristics are perfectly characterized,
  • identify the target organs,
  • establish the existence of possible long-term effects,
  • with in parallel, mechanistic studies designed to identify the determinants responsible for the toxicity (mass, surface, number, surface chemical reactivity, shape, aggregation, etc.), using particular methods of analysis of the overall cellular response (transcriptome, proteome, etc.) to sort them.

Challenges!

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Skin contact exposure.

But technical locks have to be removed in order to:

  • generate the conditions of representative administration in situations of human exposure (notably the generation of aerosols of nanoparticles),
  • measure and monitor exposures.

It is still premature to decide on the presence or absence of a nanoparticle's risk on human health because:

  • toxicity data in humans is limited to suspecting the possible contribution of ultra-fine particles of air pollution to the increase in the incidence or severity of ill-defined cardio-respiratory affections without discrimination of the role played by other pollutants,
  • pathological effects observed in animals are mainly a more or less severe pulmonary inflammatory reaction. This reaction has a questionable significance because it occurs after local instillation of high doses of nanoparticles not commensurate with the plausible human exposure situation,
  • countless studies on cells show particular behavior of nanoparticles, often contradictory but also insufficiently characterized, without finding mechanisms to identify or predict the effects on health.