A review on approaches to bio distribution studies about gold and silver engineered nanoparticles by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

This paper gives a general overview about bio distribution studies which are especially related to engineered nanoparticles (NPs) made of gold and silver. The analysis of biological materials from bio distribution studies plays a significant role in the application of atomic spectrometry to study NPs. Therefore, special focus is given to the generally applied strategy as well as the use of the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique for the determination of the NPs containing metals. An overview of the recent research applications on gold and silver NPs is also presented. While for gold NPs a large variety of very different sizes, shape and coating are known, they also provide many opportunities in imaging, diagnostics, and therapies of nanomedicine. Hence, their bio kinetics in the body are prerequisites for specific tailoring of nanomedicinal applications and for a comprehensive risk assessment. Silver NPs are applied in a lot of consumer products; therefore it is useful to get a better understanding of their in vivo distribution.