Dosimetry for In Vitro Nanotoxicology: Too Complicated to Consider, Too Important to Ignore

The widespread manufacture and use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in consumer products have led to increasing concerns of environmental and occupational exposures (Aitken et al. 2006; Bello et al. 2012). The unique physicochemical properties exhibited by ENMs that are distinct from those of their micron-sized counterparts (reactive surface area, surface energy, mobility, quantum size effects, etc.) endow them with exceptional performance in consumer products, and may also be responsible for unique biological effects that can render them unsafe for humans and for the environment (Nel et al. 2006, 2009; Oberdorster 2007).