ABSTRACT
PRATIK KUMAR SHAH1,*, JAIRO NELSON2, and CHEN-ZHONG LI2
1Bio-MEMS and Microsystems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, USA
2Bielectronics and Nanobioengineering Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, USA
*E-mail: pshah003@fiu.edu
Each passing decade has provided a plethora of technological advancements in many fields of science. One of these ever-growing fields is in the creation and application of nanomaterials. Thousands of nanomaterials have been created over the past few decades that have improved the consistency of consumer goods, the speed of computer processors, and even the ways in which medicine can tackle ailments. The ever-increasing creation and application of nanomaterials will increase the likelihood of incidental exposure of the general public to these materials and for this reason it is imperative that the toxicity of these nanomaterials is characterized, elucidated, and quantified. This chapter provides a brief introduction to nanotoxicology, describing the common techniques used to determine the toxic nature of materials in laboratory experiments, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses some of these techniques pose even when conducting a well controlled toxicology study. In addition to the latter, newer and more creative complementary techniques to those already used for studying nanomaterial toxicity are also presented.
