Current highlights about the safety of inorganic nanomaterials in healthcare.

Current highlights about the safety of inorganic nanomaterials in healthcare. Curr Med Chem. 2018 Jul 23;: Authors: Perioli L, Pagano C, Ceccarini MR Abstract In recent years inorganic materials are largely present in products intended to health care. Literature gives many examples of inorganic materials used in many health care products, mainly in pharmaceutical field. Silver, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, iron oxide, gold, mesoporous silica, hydrotalcite-like compound and nanoclays are the most common inorganic materials used in nanosized form for different applications in health field. Generally, these materials are employed to realize formulations for systemic use, often with the aim to perform a specific targeting to the pathological site. The nanometric dimensions are often preferred to obtain the cellular internalization when the target is localized in the intracellular space. Some materials are frequently used in topical formulations as rheological agents, adsorbents, mattifying agents, physical sunscreen (e.g. zinc oxide, titanium dioxide), and others. Recent studies highlighted that the use of nanosized inorganic materials can represents a risk for health. The very small dimension (nanometric) until few years ago represented a fundamental requirement however it is currently held as responsible for the inorganic material toxicity. This aspect is very important to be considered as actually numerous inorganic materials can be fo...
Source: Current Medicinal Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Curr Med Chem Source Type: research