Abstract
Close attention has been paid to the safety of nanomaterials because they are used widely as raw materials with novel functions and taken up easily by cells due to their fineness. In the Public Symposium of the Japan Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS), which was held on May 28, 2010, characteristics and toxicity of various nanomaterials were presented and discussed by five scientists. Nanomaterials are obviously useful for improving our daily lives and expected for further commercialization; however, the symposium concluded that more genotoxic studies are required for confirmation of nanomaterials' safety based on a lesson from the previous affair related to asbestos.
