Institute of Occupational Medicine, School of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2011 May;15(5):481-508.
Recent rapid advances in nanotechnology raise concerns about development, production route, and diffusion in industrial and consumer products of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs). In fact, compared to recent increase in applications of this nanomaterial, the health effects of human exposure have not been systematically investigated. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview on the current knowledge regarding the effects of TiO2-NPs on mammalian cells.
This review is based on an analysis of the current literature on this topic.
Fine TiO2 particles have been considered as safe and to pose little risk to humans, suggesting that exposure to this material is relatively harmless. However, available data in the literature showed that TiO2-NPs can cause several adverse effects on mammalian cells such as increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cytokines levels, reduction of cell viability and proliferation, induction of apoptosis and genotoxicity.
Additional research is needed to obtain up-to-date knowledge on health effects of TiO2-NPs and to avoid any potential risk correlated to their exposure. Consequently, future studies need to: (1) use an homogeneous and rigorous exposure classification to clarify how the physicochemical properties of TiO2-NPs correlate with their toxicological effects; (2) assess the potential adverse effects of low level exposures to TiO2-NPs, as most of the information currently available originates from studies in which exposure levels were excessively and unrealistically high; (3) identify the possible roles of TiO2-NPs in genotoxicity and carcinogenicity (4) carry out epidemiologic studies of exposed workers to provide an assessment of possible risks correlated to the occupational exposure to TiO2-NPs.
纳米技术的快速发展引起了人们对纳米二氧化钛（TiO2-NPs）的开发、生产路线和在工业及消费产品中的扩散的关注。事实上，与这种纳米材料最近的应用增长相比，人类暴露的健康影响尚未得到系统研究。本综述的目的是提供关于 TiO2-NPs 对哺乳动物细胞影响的最新知识的全面概述。
本综述基于对该主题的现有文献的分析。
精细 TiO2 颗粒被认为是安全的，对人体风险较小，这表明暴露于该物质相对无害。然而，文献中的现有数据表明，TiO2-NPs 可引起哺乳动物细胞的几种不良反应，如活性氧（ROS）产生和细胞因子水平增加、细胞活力和增殖减少、凋亡和遗传毒性诱导。
需要进一步研究以获得关于 TiO2-NPs 健康影响的最新知识，并避免与其暴露相关的任何潜在风险。因此，未来的研究需要：（1）使用均质和严格的暴露分类来阐明 TiO2-NPs 的物理化学性质与它们的毒理学效应之间的关系；（2）评估 TiO2-NPs 低水平暴露的潜在不良影响，因为目前大多数信息都来自于暴露水平过高且不切实际的研究；（3）确定 TiO2-NPs 在遗传毒性和致癌性中的可能作用；（4）对暴露工人进行流行病学研究，以评估与 TiO2-NPs 职业暴露相关的可能风险。
