Exposure to Nanoparticles May Threaten Heart Health

March 24, 2015

Nanoparticles, extremely tiny particles, are increasingly everywhere, and especially in biomedical products. Now a team of Israeli scientists has, for the first time, found that nanoparticles (NPs) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) can play a major role in the development of cardiovascular diseases when the nanoparticles cross tissue and cellular barriers and also find their way into the circulatory system.

The research team was comprised of scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rambam Medical Center and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH).

“Environmental exposure to nanoparticles is becoming unavoidable due to the rapid expansion of nanotechnology,” says the study’s lead author, Prof. Michael Aviram, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine. “This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk.”

A recent update from the American Heart Association also suggested that “fine particles” in air pollution lead to elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases.

“The number of nano-based consumer products has risen a thousand fold in recent years, with an estimated world market of $3 trillion by the year 2020,” conclude the researchers. “This reality leads to increased human exposure. Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed.

Source: Excerpt of an article from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

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