Advances in Nanotoxicology: Towards Enhanced Environmental and Physiological Relevance and Molecular Mechanisms.

The original research articles regarding environmental nanotoxicology address aspects that have been less explored in the nanotoxicology studies so far, such as combination toxicity and long-term toxicity of NPs. Nanotoxicology, a discipline transpired by the need to assess the human and environmental safety of nanoscale materials, has evolved over the past 15 years into a mature area of toxicology. Early on, nanotoxicology studies established a necessary understanding of dose-response relationships of nanomaterials using typical in vitro toxicology models, provided crucial information on interferences induced by nanoparticles (NPs) in the conventional toxicity assays and how to overcome these, and demonstrated that due to their unique physical-chemical properties, nanomaterials act via different toxicological mechanisms than the bulk counterparts of the same materials. The topics of the research articles and review papers address both environmental nanotoxicity as well as human health and nanomedicine safety aspects, providing an excellent overview of the current status of these important sub-areas of nanotoxicology. [Extracted from the article]