| Title: | Pulmonary and systemic toxicity following exposure to nickel nanoparticles | | Authors: | James I Phillips, Francis Y Green, John CA Davies, Jill Murray | | Source: | American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2010. DOI 10.1002/ajim20855 | | Year: | 2010 | | Summary: | There is currently great interest in nanotechnology. The emerging science of nanotoxicology is a lead thrust for the NIOH. While there have been many toxicology experiments using cell cultures and animal models, there are only few scientific reports of adverse health effects due to nanoparticles in humans. This case report joins a limited number of articles describing occupational disease attributable to exposure to nanoparticles.
Nanoparticles are being used in ever increasing numbers in a range of industrial and medical products. Questions surrounding their potential to cause toxic effects in humans have been raised. Although animal experiments predict that nanoparticles are more toxic than their larger counterparts there are few descriptions in the literature of human exposure. A case described in 1994 has been re-examined from a pathology perspective. The subject, a 38 year old previously healthy male, inhaled nanoparticles of nickel while spraying nickel onto turbine bushes using a metal arc process. He died 13 days after being exposed and the cause of death at autopsy was adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Nickel particles less than 25nm in diameter were identified in lung macrophages using transmission electron microscopy. High levels of nickel were measured in his urine and his kidneys showed evidence of acute tubular necrosis.
Metallic nickel is allergenic but is not regarded as being particularly toxic. This paper supports the concept that nanoparticles are more reactive and therefore more likely to produce adverse health effects than their larger particles of the same chemical. It also reminds us that nanoparticles are not new and that there are many industrial operations such as metal arc spraying that may produce incidental nanoparticles.
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