OpenTox Virtual Conference 2021 Session 3
In vitro toxicological assessment of representative aerosolized cerium oxide and silver nanoparticles and commercial microparticles
Adrián García-Salvador 1*, Isabel Rodríguez 1, Alberto Katsumiti 1, Paloma Gómez-Fernández 1, Frank S. Bierkandt 2, Sandra Wagener 2, Jutta Tentschert 2, Peter Laux 2, Andreas Luch 2, Felipe Goñi-de-Cerio 1*
- GAIKER Technology Centre, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48170 Zamudio, Spain.
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Chemical and Product Safety, Unit Product Materials and Nanotechnology, Max-Dohrn-Straße 8-10, D-10589 Berlin, Germany.
Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are of significant relevance due to their unique properties, which have been exploited for widespread applications. Ceria nanoparticles (CeO2-NP) and silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) are among the most used in daily products, such as fuel catalyst additive, polish surface treatment, as well as in cosmetics and sunscreens (CeO2-NP) or as anti-microbial in household products, health-care-related products, medical-devices coating, cosmetics and food industry (Ag-NP).
A growing proclivity for nanomaterials coupled to their increased emission as by-products of novel technologies and industrial processes has promoted the risk of human exposure, mainly via airborne exposure at the airway epithelia, raising concerns about public health and safety. Thus, the toxicological effects of these airborne ENMs should be further studied.
In this study, the toxicity of aerosols containing representative Ceria (NM-212 and NM-213) and Silver NPs (NM-300K) as well as their microparticles counterparts (Ceria and Silver microparticles) were assessed in an advanced in vitro lung model consisting of A549 cell line at the Air-Liquid Interface (ALI) in a Vitrocell Cloud exposure chamber coupled to an Aerogen Lab nebulizer.
Results showed that all tested particles caused different degrees of toxicity. NM-300K, NM-213, Micro-ceria, and Micro-silver induced metabolic activity and membrane integrity damages as well as inflammatory responses. On the other hand, NM-212 only induced inflammatory response, but not metabolic neither membrane integrity damage.
