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The aim of our study was to test a hypothesis according to which the pulmonary clearance vs. retention of metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is controlled not only by physiological mechanisms but also by their solubilization which in some cases may even prevail.

Airborne Fe₂O₃ NPs with the mean diameter of 14 ± 4 nm produced by sparking from 99.99% pure iron rods were fed into a nose-only exposure tower. Rats were exposed to these NPs for 4 h a day, 5 days a week during 3, 6 or 10 months at the mean concentration of 1.14 ± 0.01 mg/m³. NPs collected from the air exhausted from the exposure tower proved insoluble in water but dissolved markedly in the cell free broncho-alveolar lavage fluid supernatant and in the sterile bovine blood serum. The Fe₂O₃ content of the lungs and lung-associated lymph nodes was measured by the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.

We found a relatively …