Environmental and Human Health Issues of Silver Nanoparticles Applications

Abstract

The significant growth in applications of silver nanoparticles across -various branches of industry as well as in consumer products has caused concerns that nanosilver may have a toxic effect on the environment and human health and may have implications for eco-terorism. This paper presents research on antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles. We studied the cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles via an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium-bromid) assay that measures cell activity through the mitochondrial cleavage of a molecule that exhibits a change of colour that can be measured spectrophotometrically. NIH-3T3 (Swiss mouse embryo), HEP-G2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), A-549 (human lung carcinoma), PC-12 (rat adrenal pheochromocytoma), and Colo-320 (human colon adenocarcinoma) cells were chosen in order to study different possible absorption paths of nanoparticles into the organism and various areas of particle accumulation in the body. The obtained MTT test results have shown that silver nanoparticles with concentrations of ∼1-10 ppm entering the body from air or liquid suspensions can present a potential risk to human health. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011.