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Review article: Biomedical intelligence

Vol. 142 No. 1314 (2012)

Knocking at the door of the unborn child: engineered nanoparticles at the human placental barrier

  • Tina Buerki-Thurnherr
  • Ursula von Mandach
  • Peter Wick
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2012.13559
Cite this as:
Swiss Med Wkly. 2012;142:w13559
Published
25.03.2012

Summary

Exposure of pregnant women and their unborn children to engineered nanoparticles (NPs) is not yet of major public concern. However, this may soon change in light of the ever-increasing production of NPs and the continuous appearance of novel NP-containing consumer products. However, NPs may not only pose risks to exposed individuals; they offer major potential for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to treat specifically either the mother or the developing foetus. Hence there is every reason to explore the transplacental transfer of engineered NPs in more detail, and to find answers to the vast number of open questions in this fascinating field of research.

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