Testing inhalation toxicity from nanoparticles

The explosion of nanotechnology-based products and industries has raised increasing questions about the safety and environmental impact of nanoparticles, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has a published a new international standard to support inhalation toxicity testing of nanoparticles. Entitled “Nanotechnologies—characterization of nanoparticles in inhalation exposure chambers for inhalation toxicity testing,” ISO 10808:2010 establishes standards to ensure that toxicity tests for nanoparticles are reliable and consistent worldwide. “In order to test inhalation toxicity, it is necessary to monitor concentration, size and size-distribution of nanoscale particles in an inhalation chamber,” says Dr. Peter Hatto, chair of the ISO committee.