Methods for detection of oxidative stress and genotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles.

The distinctive characteristics of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) such as higher surface-to-volume ratio find immense applications in personal care products, food packaging, drug delivery systems, therapeutics & biosensors and others. The exponential increase in the ENP containing consumer products in the last 5 years has also increased their inadvertent release in the environment and a debate towards their adverse effects to the human and environment health. A variety of ENPs with different size, shape, and surface properties have been shown to induce genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, and oxidative stress in different cellular models. Here we describe the techniques and protocols used in the assessment of the genotoxicity (single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay, cytokinesis block micronucleus assay) and oxidative stress parameters (reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and glutathione depletion) induced by the ENPs in the cells.