title: Genotoxicity of metal nanoparticles.
abstract: Nanotechnology is currently used in industry, medicine, and military applications, as well as in more than 300 commercial products. Yet, the same properties that make these particles exciting for technology also make them daunting public health concerns because their toxicity is unknown and relatively unexplored. Increased attention is being placed on the study of metal particle genotoxicity; however, a lot of unknowns remain about their effects and the mechanisms. In this article, we highlight some metal and metal oxide nanoparticles of interest and discuss the current in vivo and in vitro studies of genotoxic effects. Many metal nanoparticles were found to cause chromosomal aberrations, DNA strand breaks, oxidative DNA damage, and mutations. Inconsistencies are found in the literature, however, thus drawing conclusions is difficult due to a variety of factors. Therefore, the areas requiring further attention are highlighted and recommendations to improve our understanding of the genotoxic potential are addressed.
authors.affiliation: Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04104, USA.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: John Pierce
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wise
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000139:chemically induced; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective / Q000139:chemically induced; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009153:Mutagens