5. Methods of contamination

Nanotechnologies can cause acute contamination (high exposure concentrations over a short period of time) or chronic contamination (low exposure concentrations over long periods of time) of personnel. Three modes of contamination can be identified: inhalation, dermal and ingestion.

A review of the literature shows that current studies mainly concern acute exposure, whereas chronic exposure would be more representative of actual exposure conditions in both occupational and environmental environments. In vivo biokinetic studies enable us to identify target organs (figure 3 ) according to the mode of contamination, and to describe the associated pathophysiologies. In vitro studies help clarify the molecular interactions of nanomaterials with model cells of target organs, and the mechanisms governing...