Toxicology of Nano Materials to Fish: A Fact Finding Pilot Study.

纳米颗粒是尺寸范围为1-100纳米的非常小的颗粒。纳米颗粒在新材料、电气和热设备中有许多应用，在医疗仪器、生物机器人和环境监测技术中有新的应用。纳米技术对人类的潜在好处是令人敬畏的。然而，哺乳动物毒性研究已经揭示了一些关于这些材料中的一些的不利影响的担忧，例如由于纳米颗粒的抑制引起的气道炎症。对野生动物的影响尚不清楚，在我们允许将工业废水和其他可能含有纳米颗粒的废物有控制地排放到环境中之前，需要对这些影响进行一些评估。我们的建议是一个为期一年的试点研究，看看纳米粒子对鱼类的可能影响。我们的目标是测量两种主要类型的纳米颗粒对鱼（i）碳纳米管（ii）制造的二氧化钛纳米颗粒的短期和长期影响。测量将包括组织病理学，一系列健康指数，以及对鱼类组织的详细毒理学和生物化学调查。这些信息对于环境风险评估至关重要，也是管理新纳米技术潜在污染问题的先决条件。

Nanoparticles are very small particles in the size range 1-100 nanometers. Nanoparticles have numerous applications in new materials, electrical and thermal devices, and new applications in medical instruments, biorobotics, and environmental monitoring technology. The potential benefits to mankind of nanotechnology is awesome. However, mammalian toxicity studies have revealed some concerns about adverse effects of some of these materials, such as inflammation of the airway due to inhilation of nanoparticles. The effects on wildlife are unknown, and some assessment of these effects are needed before we should allow the controlled discharge of industrial effluents, and other wastes that might contain nanoparticles, into the environment. Our proposal is a one year pilot study to look at possible effects of nanoparticles on fish. Our objectives are to measure the short and long term effects of two major types of nanoparticles to fish (i) carbon nanotubes (ii) manufactured titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Measurements will include histopathology, a range of health indices, and detailed toxicological and biochemical investigations of the fish tissues. This information is vital for environmental risk assessments, and a pre-requisite to managing potential pollution problems from new nanotechnologies.