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Bio-Applications of Nanoparticles pp 181–204Cite as

Toxicity Studies of Carbon Nanotubes

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 620))

Abstract

As for fullerenes, the potential and the growing use of CNT and their mass production have raised several questions about their safety and environmental impact. Research on the toxicity of carbon nanotubes has just begun and the data are still fragmentary and subject to criticisms. Preliminary results highlight the difficulties in evaluating the toxicity of this new and heterogeneous carbon nanoparticle family. A number of parameters including structure, size distribution and surface area, surface chemistry and surface charge, and agglomeration state as well as purity of the samples, have considerable impact on the reactivity of carbon nanotubes. However, available data clearly show that, under some conditions, nanotubes can cross the membrane barriers and suggests that if raw materials reach the organs they can induce harmful effects as inflammatory and fibrotic reactions. Therefore, many further studies on well-characterized materials are necessary to determine the safety of carbon nanotubes as well as their environmental impact.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR CNRS 8612, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paris-Sud 11, 5, Rue J.-B. Clément, 92296, Châtenay-Malabry, France

    Jelena Kolosnjaj, Henri Szwarc & Fathi Moussa

  2. Pharmacy Department, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Jelena Kolosnjaj

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  1. Jelena Kolosnjaj
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  2. Henri Szwarc
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  3. Fathi Moussa
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, The Terrence Donnelly, Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Materials Science and Engineering, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Warren C. W. Chan Ph.D.

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Kolosnjaj, J., Szwarc, H., Moussa, F. (2007). Toxicity Studies of Carbon Nanotubes. In: Chan, W.C.W. (eds) Bio-Applications of Nanoparticles. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 620. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76713-0_14

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