Current Opinion on Nanotoxicology

As requiring toxicologists to become nanotechnology experts would not be feasible, to properly incorporate the care of nanotoxicity into the existing medical framework, a range of experts across multiple fields of study must work in close synchronization. The focus needs to be on mechanism-driven research to ensure a solid scientific foundation for the assessment of NP and their role in healthcare.Nanotechnology is one of the premiere technologies available today, having expanded both as field of scientific study and in the public consciousness. Despite this growth, the drawbacks, limitations and potential safety hazards associated with the incorporation of nanotechnology into existing industries are still being learned. The noticeable point is that there is no enough data available yet to analyze global use of nanotechnology from a meta-perspective.The conventional definition of a nanoparticle (NP) is a material or materials with two or three dimensions, between 1 and 100 nm and possessing strange properties related to the size, shape or chemical composition of the material. The term nanotechnology can be defined as “the manipulation, measurement, precision, modeling, or manufacture of sub-100 nanometer scale matter” [1]. Today, over 800 consumer products are estimated to incorporate nanoparticles [2,3].Of particular interest to the medical field is the potential advantage of nanotechnology in both diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The ability to operate at the cellular or intercellular level could lead to dramatic leaps in the patient care. As of this writing, NPs are being developed to meet a variety of needs, however very few NPs have made it out of the testing phase. Over the last five years, production of NPs has increased five-fold. The current approximation is that more than 580 companies over 30 countries manage and produce some 1,317 NP-based projects, from textiles to wound dressings [2]. Some scientists have speculated that nanotechnology is growing