ABSTRACT
The toxicity of Carbon-Nanotubes (CNTs) needs to be understood in the framework of the materials characterization. Most of the CNT cytotoxicity studies have focused on the pulmonary toxicity after inhalation, intratracheal instillation and pharyngeal aspiration, as well as their effects on skin toxicity after exposure and subcutaneous administration of CNTs. Pristine CNTs were less toxic than functionalised CNTs, but both pristine and oxidized CNTs were toxic in a dose and time-dependent manner. The cytotoxicity of CNTs at various degrees of agglomeration has been also investigated, in order to find out how far the degree of dispersion and agglomeration affects CNTs cytotoxicity. Little is known about the behaviour and fate of CNTs in mammals, mostly because of the challenge of detecting and tracking these particles in complex biological environments. J. B. Mangum et al. investigated the fibrogenic potential of Single-Walled-Carbon-Nanotubes following a single oropharyngeal aspiration in rats.
