Safety and health issues of biocomposites

Abstract Recently, the notion of “Green Chemistry & Sustainability” triggered the necessity to develop next generation green biocomposites for biomedical applications. Green biocomposites are used for the development of various biomedical devices, tissue implants, regenerative medicine, etc., due to their biocompatibility with biological systems. Tissue implants include hard tissue engineering such as artificial organs, bones, knee, and hip replacements and soft tissue engineering such as skin, tendons, and vascular grafts. Green biopolymer-induced biocomposites have drawn attention over petroleum-based polymers because of their biodegradability, sustainability, biocompatibility, low toxicity to no toxicity, eco-friendliness, etc. Unfortunately, they possess various shortcomings regarding health issues of the host that restrict their intended medical applications. This chapter mainly focused on various health concerns and safety measures that must be addressed during the application of biocomposites.