Bases para la evaluación toxicológi9ca de los nanomateriales manufacturados

The increasing annual production of nanomaterials enhances the human and environmental exposure, as well as the possible impact on public concern. In order to regulate the production, international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Comission through the REACH regulation have established some measures to assess its health and environmental safety. This review tries to analyze these proposed measures according to the standard test used in toxicology, the different classification of nanomaterials and the main mechanisms of toxicity known for nanomaterials. Resulting from this analysis, it is considered convenient to continue the development of specific tests for nanomaterial evaluation, as the measures established by the organizations of reference are not enough to establish standard basis for testing nanomaterials. This is mainly due to the huge diversity of manufactured nanomaterials and the importance of its handling, techniques and experimental systems chosen in the toxicity results.