Nanotoxicology, Health and Safety

Nanotoxicology addresses the potential hazards posed by nanoparticles—materials with at least one dimension in the 1 – 100 nm range—when they interact with living organisms and the environment. Their high surface‐to‐volume ratios, tunable surface chemistries and quantum‐driven properties enhance their usefulness in medicine, electronics, cosmetics and industrial applications, but also raise novel safety concerns. Key issues include unexpected routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact), translocation of particles beyond the portal of entry, generation of reactive oxygen species and inflammation, and the potential for cumulative or long‐term effects at cellular, organ and ecosystem levels. Modern risk assessment integrates physicochemical characterisation, in vitro mechanistic studies and in vivo models to establish dose–response relationships, define safe exposure limits and guide the design of less hazardous materials. Responsible development of nanotechnology thus relies on a thorough understanding of nanotoxicological principles to ensure human health protection, environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A large, publicly accessible database was constructed containing over 700 distinct nanomaterials annotated with six physicochemical and bioactivity endpoints per entry, each converted into machine-readable structures and linked to more than 2 000 quantitative nanodescriptors. This resource supports high-throughput in silico screening, descriptor-based modelling and design of safer-by-design materials. In parallel, a generalised toxicity classification model was developed for seven oxide nanomaterials using literature-sourced datasets screened for quality. Neural network classifiers trained on balanced datasets outperformed other algorithms, and an applicability domain defined by k-nearest neighbours ensured robust predictions. Critical predictive features included dose, formation enthalpy, exposure time and hydrodynamic size, yielding a broadly applicable tool for hazard assessment across diverse experimental conditions.

Nanotoxicology, Health and Safety publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanotoxicology, health and safety across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Highly reactive oxygen-derived molecules that can damage lipids, proteins and DNA when generated in excess.

Protein corona: A layer of biomolecules, primarily proteins, that adsorb onto a nanoparticle’s surface upon exposure to biological fluids, altering its identity and interactions.

Nanodescriptor: A quantitative feature extracted from physicochemical or structural data used as input for predictive modelling of nanoparticle behaviour.

Applicability domain: The range of descriptor values within which a predictive model is considered reliable for new materials.

Safe-by-design: An approach in nanomaterial development that integrates hazard reduction strategies early in the design process to minimise potential risks.

References

1. Construction of a web-based nanomaterial database by big data curation and modeling friendly nanostructure annotations. Nature Communications (2020).
2. Towards a generalized toxicity prediction model for oxide nanomaterials using integrated data from different sources. Scientific Reports (2018).
3. Nanoparticles in the environment: where do we come from, where do we go to?. Environmental Sciences Europe (2018).