Safety assessment of silica and zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Seong Soo A An,1 Meyoung-Kon Kim2 1Department of Bionanotechnology, Gachon Medical Research Institute, Gachon University, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Korea; 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University Medical School and College, Seoul, KoreaThe current volume is a special issue focusing on a safety assessment of nanoparticles, from their physicochemical properties to government regulations. It features twenty-five papers, discussing general issues with the possible harmfulness of two different types of nanoparticles (NPs); silica (SiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO). Six papers describe detailed analyses from 90-day repeated administrations of NPs, and finally there is a series of technical reports, formatted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), dealing with safety issues regarding international cooperation with the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN).