Savolainen Kai, Vainio Harri
Työterveyslaitos, Nanoturvallisuuskeskus, Helsinki.
Duodecim. 2011;127(11):1097-104.
Manufactured nanomaterials enable the promotion of nanotechnologies, i.e. the use of matter at nanoscale, and several revolutionary industrial and consumer applications. Nanomaterials have at least one dimension between 1 and 100 nm. Some of them may induce toxic effects in humans, even though most of the particles are most likely harmless, but the identification of harmful materials is challenging. The number of workers exposed to nanomaterials is reaching millions, and those of consumers hundreds of millions. Toxic effects of some of these materials include pulmonary inflammation, cardiovascular and cerebral toxicity as well as genotoxicity and cancer. Limited knowledge, and associated remarkable uncertainty, on the toxicity of, and exposure to nanomaterials renders their reliable risk assessment problematic. A major challenge today is to assure safe use of these nanomaterials.
人造纳米材料推动了纳米技术的发展，即纳米尺度物质的应用，以及一些具有革命性的工业和消费应用。纳米材料至少有一个维度在1到100纳米之间。尽管大多数颗粒很可能是无害的，但其中一些可能会对人类产生毒性作用，而识别有害物质具有挑战性。接触纳米材料的工人数量已达数百万，消费者则达数亿。其中一些材料的毒性作用包括肺部炎症、心血管和脑毒性以及遗传毒性和致癌性。关于纳米材料的毒性和接触情况的知识有限，且存在显著的不确定性，这使得对其进行可靠的风险评估存在问题。当今的一个主要挑战是确保这些纳米材料的安全使用。
