title: Toxicity of silver nanoparticles at the air-liquid interface.
abstract: Silver nanoparticles are one of the most prevalent nanomaterials in consumer products. Some of these products are likely to be aerosolized, making silver nanoparticles a high priority for inhalation toxicity assessment. To study the inhalation toxicity of silver nanoparticles, we have exposed cultured lung cells to them at the air-liquid interface. Cells were exposed to suspensions of silver or nickel oxide (positive control) nanoparticles at concentrations of 2.6, 6.6, and 13.2 μ g cm(-2) (volume concentrations of 10, 25, and 50 μ g ml(-1)) and to 0.7 μ g cm(-2) silver or 2.1 μ g cm(-2) nickel oxide aerosol at the air-liquid interface. Unlike a number of in vitro studies employing suspensions of silver nanoparticles, which have shown strong toxic effects, both suspensions and aerosolized nanoparticles caused negligible cytotoxicity and only a mild inflammatory response, in agreement with animal exposures. Additionally, we have developed a novel method using a differential mobility analyzer to select aerosolized nanoparticles of a single diameter to assess the size-dependent toxicity of silver nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 411 Durham Hall (0246), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Amara L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Holder
authors.forename: Linsey C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Marr
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D002460:Cell Line; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009532:Nickel / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010087:Oxides / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012834:Silver / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D003603:Cytotoxins; D010087:Oxides; D018030:Silver Compounds; D012834:Silver; D009532:Nickel; C040225:disilver oxide; C028007:nickel monoxide