Issue 5, 2021

Insights on toxicity, safe handling and disposal of silica aerogels and amorphous nanoparticles

Abstract

Amorphous forms of silica have always raised a lot of interest by the scientific community and are nowadays rapidly growing in commercial applications. These are commercialized as aerogels or as nanoparticles, which can feature many similarities, not only in the synthesis process but also because clusters of nanoparticles are commonly released from aerogels. Nevertheless, the health effects of amorphous silica materials are not fully understood, as occurs with many other nanoforms. Amorphous silica is known to be less toxic than its crystalline form, but toxicity studies, regulatory aspects and handling practices are still scarce. In this work, the knowledge on toxicity of amorphous silica nanostructures and suitable regulations are reviewed. Furthermore, relevant safety practices for handling these materials are discussed and strategies used to recycle and dispose them are summarized.

Graphical abstract: Insights on toxicity, safe handling and disposal of silica aerogels and amorphous nanoparticles

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
08 Janv. 2021
Accepted
07 Apr. 2021
First published
19 Apr. 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2021,8, 1177-1195

Insights on toxicity, safe handling and disposal of silica aerogels and amorphous nanoparticles

J. P. Vareda, C. A. García-González, A. J. M. Valente, R. Simón-Vázquez, M. Stipetic and L. Durães, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2021, 8, 1177 DOI: 10.1039/D1EN00026H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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