Nanoparticles like zinc oxide trigger inflammation
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By David Liu, Ph.D.
Sunday July 24, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- Many diseases including diabetes and cancer have something to do with inflammation. One recent study in the June 9, 2011 issue of Archives of Toxicology suggests nanoparticles widely used in foods and consmetics may boost the risk of inflammation, potentially leading to inflammation-associated chronic diseases.
B.C. Heng of Nanyang Technical University in Singapore and colleagues, authors of the study, found zinc oxide, which is commonly used in sunscreens and other consumer products, had an dose-dependent effect on the cytotoxicity of both mouse and human cell lines and exposure to zinc oxide increased the amount of reactive oxygen species by a factor of four times.
The researchers also found primary dendritic cells after exposure to zinc oxide nanoparticles boosted their production of pro-inflammatory cytokines-IL-6 and TNF-a, suggesting that nanoparticles may induce inflammation.
Zinc oxide is only one of the commonly used nanoparticles. Other nanoparticles commonly used in foods and cosmetics include silica dioxide, iron oxide, magnesium oxide, and titanium dioxide.
Many other studies have demonstrated similar observations suggesting that nanoparticles are not safe to use even though use of nanoparticles-contained consumer products such as foods and cosmetic products may not cause any acute health problems.Another study early reported on foodconsumer.org found nanoparticles after getting into cells can damage DNA potentially leading to mutations and eventually the development of cancers.
Zinc oxide nanoparticles are chemically and physically NOT zinc oxide in its molecular form.
Photo credit: wikipedia.org
(photo of Nanostars of vanadium(IV) oxide)
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