Identifying Critical Physicochemical Characteristics of Nano-particles that Elicit Toxic Affects on ESH

Nanotechnology present new opportunities to increase the performance of traditional products and to develop unique ones. Nanoparticle applications are already becoming more prominent in coatings, computers, clothing, cosmetics and other products and the trends suggest that nanoparticles will permeate a variety of industries. To ensure that this revolution continues, industry must guarantee that nanomaterials do not adversely affect human health but there is currently no systematically methodologies developed to characterize and test nanomaterials. Our goal is to determine the relationship between toxicity and physicochemical characteristics (i.e. shape, size, surface chemistry, etc.) of nanoparticles and establish model systems as well as a battery of screening assays to determine the toxicity of different nanoparticles. In phase I, we propose to test two physicochemical properties –size and hydrophobic/hydrophilic coatings – to determine cytoxicity, inflammation (by assessing cytokine production) and glutathione levels as a marker of oxidative stress in a complex in vitro lung model system. In Phase II, we will expand the type of nanoparticles as well as the physico-chemical characteristics tested. In addition, we will establish an in vitro skin model and for those nanoparticles that elicited toxicity in our in vitro models an in vivo model to determine nanoparticle translocation.