Nanomaterials in the Environment

Harmful effects of metal(loid) oxide nanoparticles

“…Nanomaterials (NMs) are defined as “chemical substances or materials with particle sizes between 1 to 100 nm in at least one dimension” (ECHA 2020 ). Due to their nanometer size, they present huge surface-to-volume ratios, exhibiting unique physical and chemical properties (such as catalytic, optical, magnetic, electronic and mechanical) that are different from those of materials on a larger or “bulk” scale (Klaine et al 2013 ). The exceptional properties exhibited by NMs have led to their incorporation in many products in various sectors such as agriculture, automotive, construction, cosmetics, electronics, environment, food, home appliance, medicine, petroleum and printing (NPD 2020 ).…”

Metal(loid) oxide (Al2O3, Mn3O4, SiO2 and SnO2) nanoparticles cause cytotoxicity in yeast via intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species

“…The use of nanomaterials, worldwide, has increased highly in the last decades. Metal(loid) oxide (MOx) nanoparticles (NPs) constitute an important group of nanomaterials (Corr 2012;Klaine et al 2013). The global market of MOx NPs was estimated to be between 280,000 and 1.3 million tons per year, which is led by Asian-Pacific (~34%), North American (3 0%) and European (~30%) market (Nanotech 2015).…”