Transplacental transport of nanomaterials

The unique properties of nanoparticles (NP) are key to the excitement over their potential application to benefit many aspects of our lives, but are also the cause of concern over inadequate toxicological assessment of their possible impact on human health. Nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding area of industrial activity in which NP are being developed for a wide range of purposes. With some of these products already in use, and many more soon to follow, it is critically important that the potential risks from this new technology are properly assessed. There is a pressing need to understand how engineered NP can interact with the human body following exposure as consumers, in the workplace or from the environment and fundamental to this is the assessment of NP interactions at biological barriers, which control access to the whole organism and specific organs. The placenta is a barrier of particular interest because it determines exposure of the foetus that represents a vulnerable and sensitive subpopulation requiring additional consideration. Little is currently known about whether NP can cross the human placental barrier or interfere with placental function but suitable transport models have been developed which can be used to clarify the mechanisms of cellular interaction and transport across the placenta. (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2009 1 671-684