RESUMO
The analysis of the data available in the literature has shown that nanoparticles (NP) have a high toxicity than usual microparticles, can penetrate unchanged across the cell barriers, the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system, circulate and accumulate in the organs and tissues, by inducing more significant pathomorphological lesions in the visceral organs, and have a long elimination half-life. The toxicity of HPs is determined by their shape and sizes; moreover, minute fusiform particles cause more destructive effects than similar spherical particles; upon exposure, there is a clear dose-effect relationship. According to exposure to NPs, the classical target organs for the latter are the lung, liver, kidney, brain, gastrointestinal tract.
