All nanoparticles indicated below are actually produced mainly by small and medium-sized companies worldwide. In our specific project case we deal with ceramic raw material which in form of powder within a production or research process is transformed into materials and components. During this process workers and researchers are handling the powders filling moulds and realizing final polishing of the products e.g. in case of ceramic implants. Therefore, our possible health-related problems arise in the “normal” ceramic production process only, not in the use of these materials. If we introduce the term of biocompatibility we are used to refer to the material but not to the powder itself.
When we talk about Nanoparticles Risk Assessment we refer to specific properties and characteristics of chemical products and therefore to problems coming from the handling of nanoparticles as ceramic raw materials.
All “our” materials are:
o Oxide materials: AlO3, ZrO2, HAP (biocompatible as a bulk material, but what happens when we talk about nano-sized powders?) with different cristalline phases and cristallinity levels.
o Carbides: SiC, TiC
o Nitrides: Si3N4, TiN
o Carbon-based with cristallinity state changing from amorphous to other structures during the process (no nanotubes).
o Borides: TiB2 |