Project 2: Fate and Effects of Inhaled ENMs in the Lung

纳米材料吸入暴露和潜在的健康影响工程纳米材料（ENMs）是一种新兴的材料类别，在成像、电子和治疗领域的应用越来越广泛；然而，它们已经成为越来越多的常用产品的一部分，如电脑芯片、化妆品、服装和膳食补充剂。尽管这些enm可能被证明是有益的，但人们对其潜在的健康风险提出了担忧。虽然这些粒子在过去的几十年里已经被研究过了，但直到最近才开始认真研究电磁微粒的潜在毒性。最近，有7名女工在工作期间暴露于纳米颗粒5-13个月，她们出现肺纤维化和炎症的肺损伤^，尽管这些不幸的病例可能涉及其他因素，但这一毒性问题得到了强调。工人、消费者和公众都可能通过多种途径接触到环境污染物质，包括皮肤、胃肠道或眼睛，但吸入途径可能仍然是最重要的途径。吸入途径也是许多enm应用的重要途径，包括显像剂、基因治疗和向感染或肿瘤部位输送治疗药物。

Nanomaterial Inhalational Exposure and Potential Health Effects Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are an emerging category of materials that are finding increasing use in the areas of imaging, electronics and therapeutics; however, they are already part of a widening number of products that are commonly used such as computer chips, cosmetics, clothing and dietary supplements. Even though these ENMs may prove to be beneficial, there have been concerns raised regarding their potential health risks. Although these particles have been studied for the last few decades, only recently has the potential toxicity of ENMs been researched in a serious way. This issue of toxicity has been recently highlighted by the case report of 7 female factory workers exposed to nanoparticles during their work for 5-13 months who developed lung damage with pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation^, although there may have been other factors involved in these unfortunate cases. People that may be exposed to ENMs include workers, consumers and the general public through a number of ways that include by skin or by the gastrointestinal route or through the eyes, but the inhaled route remains potentially the most important one. The inhaled route is also an important one for a number of applications for ENMs including imaging agents, gene therapy and therapeutic drug delivery to infected or tumour sites.