Cytotoxicity assessment of ZnO nanoparticles on human epidermal cells

Background Nanotechnology is growing rapidly worldwide and engineered nanoparticles have found tremendous applications in consumer and industrial products. Metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), especially zinc oxide (ZnO), are widely used in cosmetics, catalysis, electronics, biosensors, medicine, paints, food packaging and imaging. As, the ZnO NPs have major application in cosmetics, their exposure will mainly be through the skin, which is the largest organ of the body and could serve as an important portal route for entry. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the cytotoxicity of ZnO NPs on human epidermal cells (A431).