From
Bio-Applications of Nanoparticles
Chapter 13:
Toxicity Studies of Fullerenes and Derivatives
See the later part of:
Abstract
Due to their unique properties, fullerenes, a model of carbon-based nanoparticles, have
attracted considerable interest in many fields of research including material science
and biomedical applications. The potential and the growing use of fullerenes and
their mass production have raised several questions about their safety and environmental impact.
Available data clearly shows that pristine C60 has no acute or sub-acute toxicity in a large
variety of living organisms, from bacteria and fungal to human leukocytes, and also in drosophila,
mice, rats and guinea pigs. In contrast to chemically—either covalently or noncovalently—
modified fullerenes, some C60 derivatives can be highly toxic. Furthermore, under light exposure,
C60 is an efficient singlet oxygen sensitizer. Therefore, if pristine C60 is absolutely nontoxic
under dark conditions, this is not the case under UV-Visible irradiation and in the presence of
O2 where fullerene solutions can be highly toxic through 1O2 formation.
Papers that were referenced in support of this later in the chapter (I haven't had time to look at them):
Sera N, Tokiwa H, Miyata N. Mutagenicity of the fullerene C60-generated singlet oxygen dependent
formation of lipid peroxides. Carcinogenosis 1996; 17(10):2163-9.
Yamago S, Tokuyama H, Nakamura E et al. In vivo biological behavior of a water-miscible fullerene:
14C labeling, absorption, distribution, excretion and acute toxicity. Chem Biol 1995; 2:385-9.
Boutorine AS, Tokuyama H, Takasugi M et al. Fullerene-oligonucleotide conjugates: Photoinduced
sequence-specific DNA cleavage. Angew Chem Int ed Engl 1994; 33(23-24):2462-5.
Thoughts?