Work in brief
NUISANCE DUST AND THE ROLE OF SURFACE AREA
So called “nuisance” dusts (low-solubility, low-toxicity particles) are regulated in occupational settings on the basis of their mass. However, ultrafine nanoparticles may be more toxic than equivalent mass larger particles. To investigate whether surface area is a more relevant metric than mass, Monteiller et al conducted an in vitro experiment.1 Human alveolar epithelial type II cells were treated with various sizes of titanium dioxide or carbon black particles and certain markers of pro-inflammatory response were measured. In all assays, nanoparticles produced a much stronger response than same-mass doses of …
