Very Very Small Health Risks?

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars released its strategies for assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials.

The report stresses that cellular, also called in vitro, tests will play an important role in evaluating nanomaterials, Warheit said. For example, in vitro tests can be used to determine whether a nanoparticle might cross through the lungs and enter the blood and immune system, Warheit said, adding the ability of some nanoparticles to move through or "translocate" biological barriers is one reason they must be carefully studied...

In vitro tests also can be used to determine whether a nanoparticle might pass through the skin, the report said. A table in the report illustrates how in vitro tests could be used to determine ways a nanoparticle might get into the body. Another table describes in vitro tests that could be used to help figure out whether a nanoparticle might harm various organs.