Journal
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Volume 40, Issue 7, Pages 1227-1233Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2005.11.010
Keywords
toxicity; ROS; scavenging; multiwall carbon nanotubes; free radicals
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) currently attract intense research efforts because of their unique properties which make them suitable for many industrial applications. When inhaled, CNTs constitute a possible hazard to human health. Several studies have shown that when instilled in the lung of experimental animals, CNTs induced an inflammatory and fibrotic response similar to that caused by other toxic particles which might be the result of oxidative stress caused by particle- and/or cell-derived free radicals. There is, however, no direct experimental evidence of a capacity of carbon nanotubes to generate directly free radicals. Here we report that multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in aqueous suspension do not generate oxygen or carbon-centered free radicals in the presence of H2O2 or formate, respectively, as detected with the spin-trapping technique. Conversely, we observed that, when in contact with an external Source of hydroxyl or superoxide radicals, MWCNT exhibit a remarkable radical scavenging capacity. It is therefore possible that the inflammatory reaction reported in vivo must be ascribed to MWCNT features other than particle-derived free radical generation. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available