Biodistribution, Excretion, and Toxicity of Inorganic Nanoparticles

The aim of this chapter is to provide a summary of the current knowledge of the full life cycle of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) in physiological environments related to medical applications. The response of NPs inside organisms or released into the environment is complex and diverse, and a variety of parameters are involved: NPs may be aggregated into microscopic particles or embedded in exposed materials; their surfaces, which determine their bioactivity, experience constant modifications; NPs may corrode and dissolve; or they can suffer morphological modifications. Thus in physiological environments and inside the body, the effects, biodistribution, potential toxicity, and fate of NPs depend not only on their composition and designed morphological and surface properties, but mainly on the modifications they undergo depending on the exposure media. All this is reviewed and discussed in this chapter.