ABSTRACT
Research directed at the toxicology of manufactured nano materials has been increasing steadily over the past four years. In particular, the early work of Lam (1) and Warheit (2) caught the attention of the nanotechnology research community by indicating the possibility of harmful effects from these new materials. While there had been earlier research on health effects of airborne ultrafine (<100 nm) materials, these results applied to a mixture of ambient particles mainly from combustion sources. Lam and Warheit’s work addressed purposefully manufactured new materials (carbon nanotubes) and found adverse effects (granuloma) when instilled into rodent lungs. These results brought an awareness to the nanotechnology community that there may be health risks involved with manufactured nano materials. With this awareness, there was a call for research into the possible harmful effects of manufactured nanoparticles.
