Impact of Amorphous SiO2 Nanoparticles on a Living Organism: Morphological, Behavioral, and Molecular Biology Implications.

It is generally accepted that silica (SiO2) is not toxic. But the increasing use of silica nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) in many different industrial fields has prompted the careful investigation of their toxicity in biological systems. In this report, we describe the effects elicited by SiO2NPs on animal and cell physiology.