Subchronic inhalation toxicity of silver nanoparticles
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19033393?dopt=AbstractPlus
Sung JH, Ji JH, Park JD, Yun JU, Kim DS, Jeon KS, Song MY, Jeong J, Han BS, Han JH, Chung YH, Chang HK, Lee JH, Cho MH, Kelman BJ, Yu IJ.
Korea Environment & Merchandise Testing Institute, Incheon.
Toxicol Sci. 2008 Nov 25.
The subchronic inhalation toxicity of silver nanoparticles was studied in Sprague Dawley rats. Eight-week-old rats, weighing approximately 253.2g (males) and 162.6g (females), were divided into 4 groups (10 rats in each group): fresh-air control, low-dose (0.6 x 10(6) particle/cm(3), 49 mu/m(3)), middle-dose (1.4 x 10(6) particle/cm(3), 133 mu/m(3)), and high-dose (3.0 x 10(6) particle/cm(3), 515 mu/m(3)). The animals were exposed to silver nanoparticles (average diameter 18-19 nm) for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 13 weeks in a whole-body inhalation chamber. In addition to mortality and clinical observations, body weight, food consumption, and pulmonary function tests were recorded weekly. At the end of the study, the rats were subjected to a full necropsy, blood samples were collected for hematology and clinical chemistry tests, and the organ weights were measured. Bile-duct hyperplasia in the liver increased dose-dependently in both the male and female rats. Histopathological examinations indicated dose-dependent increases in lesions related to silver nanoparticle exposure, including mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate, chronic alveolar inflammation, and small granulomatous lesions. Target organs for silver nanoparticles were considered to be the lungs and liver in the male and female rats. NOAEL (no observable adverse effect level) of 100 mug/m(3) is suggested from the experiments.
PMID: 19033393 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
