Scientists from the Ural Federal University (UrFU) have proven that nanoparticles of iron oxide, which pollute the air, are toxic to the central nervous system even at extremely low doses. This was reported to socialbites.ca in the Priority-2030 program of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
The study was done on rats. They were injected with suspensions containing iron oxide particles and then studied the functional and structural changes in their brains. As a result, it turned out that the behavior of the mice changed: their general motor activity decreased. The scientists found multiple axons (part of a neuron) in parts of their brains that had damaged both the nanoparticles and myelin sheaths. The number of pathologically altered mitochondria in brain cells also increased.
“All this demonstrates manifestations of the neurotoxic effect of iron nanoparticles at the ultrastructural and subcellular levels,” Ilzira Minigalieva, PhD, Biological Sciences and Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Stochastic Transport of Nanoparticles in a Living Organism, said in an interview with Gazeta. ru. “It turns out that even low doses of gland oxide can be harmful to humans, because they can penetrate directly into the brain: from the nasal cavity, through the olfactory tract, directly into its various structures. Such pollution is possible in the metallurgical industries.
Normally both rats and humans contain iron in the body, but it is in protein-bound form and does not occur as free cations. Iron oxide nanoparticles are toxic because of their shape and size. They are often found in the air in metallurgical industries during various technological processes, such as the processing of raw materials or the manufacture of finished products.
The scientists add that the ability of nanoparticles to penetrate the structures of the mice’s brain and distribute them unevenly among its parts requires further research. It is necessary to find out such distribution patterns and the factors affecting it, i.e. physical properties such as exposure dose and duration, method of application.
However, it is already clear that workers in the metallurgical industry need additional protection.