Challenges of Biological Complexity in the Study of Nanotoxicology.

The scale of nanoparticle use in consumer goods has grown exponentially over several decades owing to the unique properties of materials in this size range. At the same time, well-defined end of life cycle disposal strategies have not been developed for most materials, meaning that we are approaching the potential for a new ecological disaster with the release of millions of metric tons of nanoparticles into the waste stream. The field of nanotoxicology has grown to meet the challenge of investigating the potential hazards of these materials and has already identified toxicity mechanisms that affect multiple tropes of life.