Treatment of skin with antioxidants
Roger L. McMullen in Antioxidants and the Skin, 2018
Fullerenes represent one type of allotrope of carbon. Allotrope refers to possible crystalline forms of a molecule. For example, allotropes of carbon consist of diamond, fullerenes, and graphite. The most common form of fullerene is a C60 molecule containing a hollow molecular sphere that is characterized by its highly conjugated structure consisting of 30 carbon double bonds (Figure 8.27). Fullerenes were discovered in 1985 by researchers at Rice University in Houston, TX (United States), who later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.233The fullerenes became known as Buckminster Fullerenes, or Buckyballs, and received their name due to their structural resemblance to a geodesic sphere, specifically the Montréal Biosphère, which was designed by the American Architect, Buckminster Fuller.
Ecotoxicology of Nanoparticles
Suresh C. Pillai, Yvonne Lang in Toxicity of Nanomaterials, 2019
A substantial number of studies have been carried out to investigate the toxicological effects of graphene-related products such as fullerenes and CNTs on aquatic organisms. Given the low PECs, most traditional ecotoxicological assessments show endpoints well in excess of the PECs as is typical for several nanomaterials. However, this does not necessarily imply that ENMs are non-toxic or harmless. The suite of tests available to ecotoxicologists is limited by those validated by organizations such as the ISO and OECD. Traditionally, these tests have been available for several decades in their validated form and were originally designed for chemical pollutants and effluents, not specifically ENMs. As such, their degree of sensitivity may be insufficient to fully assess chronic and long-term effects of ENM on aquatic organisms. It may be necessary at this point in the development of toxicants to reassess the suitability of these tests, their endpoints, and exposure timeframes. For example, tests in excess of 3 days’ exposure are typically considered to be chronic, and anything 3 days and under is considered acute. Indeed, the longest reported test, the chronic Daphnia magna, is just 21 days in length.
Designing for palliative care
Stephen Verderber, Ben J. Refuerzo in Innovations in Hospice Architecture, 2019
In the palliative dwelling of tomorrow, the toilet will analyze urine and automatically send the test results to one’s physician via the Internet. Air conditioning and heating systems will control air quality to an unprecedented degree. Oven ranges will not burn the skin upon touch, as the appliance will forewarn of an impending accident and automatically shut off before anything happens. In Japan, the Matsushita bathroom module takes infrared photos of the hair and skin, stores the data in its memory, and recommends the best way to appear more attractive that day. Mineral water will be dispensed from the sink faucet in varying degrees of acidity to best suit one’s health needs. This, in addition to what will by then be commonplace features in the home such as wireless-operated digital immersion artwork and the aforementioned wall, window, view, and ceiling redeployment. In short, this intelligent, or ‘smart dwelling’ will be able to anticipatorily support one’s health needs.16 It will function as a prosthetic, empathically ‘aware’ interventional device. The dark side of nanotechnology, however, will have to be harnessed to avoid adverse health risks. For example, recent research points to fullerenes, miniscule machine-like components, when uncontrolled, causing damage to human nerve systems and leading to the eventual breakdown of immune systems.17 Contamination caused by rampant fullerenes may emerge as a serious environmental threat.18 These microscopic sensors, if properly applied in our everyday life, will be able to forewarn us of potential malfunctions before they occur.19
Disposition of fullerene C60 in rats following intratracheal or intravenous administration
Published in Xenobiotica, 2019
K. A. Shipkowski, J. M. Sanders, J. D. McDonald, N. J. Walker, S. Waidyanatha
The disposition of fullerene C60 was investigated following a single IT instillation of 1 or 5 mg/kg b.wt. fullerene C60. Blood and tissues were collected at 0.5, 2, 6, 24 and 168 h and excreta were collected at 24 h intervals up to 168 h post-dosing. The concentrations of fullerene C60 in tissues and excreta are given in Table 2. Fullerene C60 was detected in the lung at the earliest time point of 0.5 h and remained more or less the same at all time points examined, demonstrating little or no pulmonary clearance. The levels in the lung increased ≥20-fold with a 5-fold increase in the dose, showing a more than dose-proportional increase. Fullerene C60 was not detected or below the LOQ in the liver (5 ng/g), kidney (0.05 ng/g), intestine (10 ng/g), spleen (0.1 ng/g), or in urine, (250 ng/g) suggesting an absence of and/or poor distribution into peripheral tissues. A small amount of fullerene C60 (<1% of the total administered dose) was detected in the feces and intestinal contents. The lack of pulmonary clearance and lack of apparent distribution into peripheral tissues suggests that the presence of fullerene C60 in feces and intestinal contents is likely from slow removal from the lung via mucociliary clearance and subsequent ingestion.
Current advances in nanocarriers for biomedical research and their applications
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
George Kerry Rout, Han-Seung Shin, Sushanto Gouda, Sabuj Sahoo, Gitishree Das, Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, Jayanta Kumar Patra
The first fullerene molecule named buckminsterfullerene (C60) was developed by Richard in the late eighties. Chemically, it is composed of carbon in hollow spherical form comprising of 12 pentagonal carbon rings encircled by 20 hexagonal carbon rings and having a diameter of about 0.7 nm. As CNTs, fullerene carbon molecules are sp2 and sp3 hybridized out of which, only sp2 carbon atom represents considerable angle strain within the molecule. Because of the expendable physical and chemical properties, diversified experimental methodologies have been derived for the bizarre chemical and structural transformations of the sphere that results in the production of several varieties of C60 derivatives, possessing different cutting-edge physical and chemical properties.
Acute exposure to C60 fullerene damages pulmonary mitochondrial function and mechanics
Published in Nanotoxicology, 2021
Dayene de Assis Fernandes Caldeira, Flávia Muniz Mesquita, Felipe Gomes Pinheiro, Dahienne Ferreira Oliveira, Luis Felipe Silva Oliveira, Jose Hamilton Matheus Nascimento, Christina Maeda Takiya, Leonardo Maciel, Walter Araujo Zin
The absorption and distribution of fullerene depend largely on the route of exposure. The lung structure is vulnerable to a wide variety of pollutants because of its permanent contact with the external environment and its broad surface area. Hence, pulmonary susceptibility to the action of molecules originating from exogenous sources is commonplace (Kirkham and Barnes 2013; Lao et al. 2014). Due to the complexity of the pulmonary system, and the potential interactions between the fullerene C60 nanoparticle and the pulmonary parenchyma (Seiffert et al. 2015), the latter needs to be further investigated. Additionally, the pulmonary mitochondrial toxicity putatively triggered by C60 nanoparticles has not been so far explored.
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