Safety aspects of manufactured nanomaterials and nanoparticles.

Manufactured nanomaterials represent a booming sector in scientific research and industry. The extremely rapid developments of nanomaterial and manufactured nanoparticles exposes these nano-objects to an ever growing population (industrial operators, laboratory staff). The studies which have been conducted to date have identified several factors contributing to the toxicity of these new generation products, the size and number of particles and even the presence of certain contaminants. However, due to the state of current knowledge, it appears extremely difficult to predict or assess their respective importance.