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Harmful or Helpful, the Toxicity and Safety of Nano-sized Medicine

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Nanomedicine

Part of the book series: Nanostructure Science and Technology ((NST))

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Abstract

Disruptive technologies, such as nanotechnology, require revised risk assessment and regulatory instruments. Engineered nanomaterials can used in therapeutic agents for drug delivery or imaging where their enhanced properties, due to their size and reactivity, have benefits over bulk materials; however there is a high degree of uncertainty about their potential adverse effects and exposure both to humans and the environment which must be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Such uncertainties mean that there is difficultly in assessing the risks of this new technology, which makes the development of evidence-based regulation of such materials a challenge for policy makers particularly given the acknowledged drivers for transparent and auditable decision making. Here we summarise the recent research into the toxicity of engineered nanomaterials, the current understanding of the different regulatory approaches that are applicable to the healthcare industry in particular and highlights areas of concern that require addressing within the near future.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy, Environment and Agrifoods, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK

    Sophie A. Rocks & Huijun Zhu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK

    Robert Dorey

  3. Risk & Policy Analysts, Loddon, Norfolk, NR14 6LT, UK

    Philip Holmes

Authors
  1. Sophie A. Rocks
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  2. Huijun Zhu
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  3. Robert Dorey
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  4. Philip Holmes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sophie A. Rocks .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

    Yi Ge

  2. School of Materials Science & Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

    Songjun Li

  3. Advanced Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Centre, College of Life Science and Technology, Huanzhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Shenqi Wang

  4. Biomimesis, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

    Richard Moore

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Rocks, S.A., Zhu, H., Dorey, R., Holmes, P. (2014). Harmful or Helpful, the Toxicity and Safety of Nano-sized Medicine. In: Ge, Y., Li, S., Wang, S., Moore, R. (eds) Nanomedicine. Nanostructure Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2140-5_11

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