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A practical approach to determine dose metrics for nanomaterials
Author(s) -
Delmaar Christiaan J.E.,
Peijnenburg Willie J.G.M.,
Oomen Agnes G.,
Chen Jingwen,
de Jong Wim H.,
Sips Adriënne J.A.M.,
Wang Zhuang,
Park Margriet V.D.Z.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.2878
Subject(s) - nanomaterials , metric (unit) , computer science , nanotechnology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , materials science , engineering , operations management
Traditionally, administered mass is used to describe doses of conventional chemical substances in toxicity studies. For deriving toxic doses of nanomaterials, mass and chemical composition alone may not adequately describe the dose, because particles with the same chemical composition can have completely different toxic mass doses depending on properties such as particle size. Other dose metrics such as particle number, volume, or surface area have been suggested, but consensus is lacking. The discussion regarding the most adequate dose metric for nanomaterials clearly needs a systematic, unbiased approach to determine the most appropriate dose metric for nanomaterials. In the present study, the authors propose such an approach and apply it to results from in vitro and in vivo experiments with silver and silica nanomaterials. The proposed approach is shown to provide a convenient tool to systematically investigate and interpret dose metrics of nanomaterials. Recommendations for study designs aimed at investigating dose metrics are provided. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1015–1022. © 2015 SETAC