Indium tin oxide (ITO) is an important semiconductor material, because of increasing commercial products consumption and potentially exposed workers worldwide. So, urgently we need to assess and manage potential health risks of ITO. Although the Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) has been established for ITO exposure, there is still a lack of distinguishing the risks of exposure to particles of different sizes. Therefore, obtaining toxicological data of small-sized particles will help to improve its risk assessment data. Important questions raised in quantitative risk assessments for ITO particles are whether biodistribution of ITO particles is affected by particle size and to what extent systematic adverse responses is subsequently initiated. In order to determine whether this toxicological paradigm for size is relevant in ITO toxic effect, we performed comparative studies on the toxicokinetics and sub-acute toxicity test of ITO in mice. The results indicate both sized-ITO resided in the lung tissue and slowly excreted from the mice, and the smaller size of ITO being cleared more slowly. Only a little ITO was transferred to other organs, especially with higher blood flow. Two type of ITO which deposit in the lung mainly impacts respiratory system and may injure liver or kidney. After sub-acute exposure to ITO, inflammation featured by neutrophils infiltration and fibrosis with both dose and size effects have been observed. Our findings revealed toxicokinetics and dose-dependent pulmonary toxicity in mice via oropharyngeal aspiration exposure, also replenish in vivo risk assessment of ITO. Collectively, these data indicate that under the current OEL, there are potential toxic effects after exposure to the ITO particles. The observed size-dependent biodistribution patterns and toxic effect might be important for approaching the hazard potential of small-sized ITO in an occupational environment.

氧化铟锡 (ITO) 是一种重要的半导体材料，因为商业产品消耗量不断增加，而且全球范围内的工人可能会接触到这些材料。因此，我们迫切需要评估和管理 ITO 的潜在健康风险。尽管已经为 IT​​O 暴露制定了职业暴露限值 (OEL)，但仍然缺乏区分暴露于不同尺寸颗粒的风险。因此，获取小颗粒的毒理学数据将有助于完善其风险评估数据。在 ITO 颗粒的定量风险评估中提出的重要问题是 ITO 颗粒的生物分布是否受颗粒尺寸的影响以及随后在多大程度上启动了系统性不良反应。为了确定这种大小的毒理学范式是否与 ITO 毒性作用相关，我们对 ITO 在小鼠体内的毒代动力学和亚急性毒性试验进行了对比研究。结果表明两种尺寸的-ITO 都存在于肺组织中并缓慢地从小鼠体内排出，而较小尺寸的 ITO 清除得更慢。只有少量 ITO 被转移到其他器官，尤其是血流量较高的器官。沉积在肺部的两种ITO主要影响呼吸系统，并可能伤害肝脏或肾脏。在亚急性暴露于 ITO 后，观察到以中性粒细胞浸润和纤维化为特征的炎症，具有剂量和大小效应。我们的研究结果揭示了通过口咽吸入暴露对小鼠的毒代动力学和剂量依赖性肺毒性，同时补充 结果表明两种尺寸的-ITO 都存在于肺组织中并缓慢地从小鼠体内排出，而较小尺寸的 ITO 清除得更慢。只有少量 ITO 被转移到其他器官，尤其是血流量较高的器官。沉积在肺部的两种ITO主要影响呼吸系统，并可能伤害肝脏或肾脏。在亚急性暴露于 ITO 后，观察到以中性粒细胞浸润和纤维化为特征的炎症，具有剂量和大小效应。我们的研究结果揭示了通过口咽吸入暴露对小鼠的毒代动力学和剂量依赖性肺毒性，同时补充 结果表明两种尺寸的-ITO 都存在于肺组织中并缓慢地从小鼠体内排出，而较小尺寸的 ITO 清除得更慢。只有少量 ITO 被转移到其他器官，尤其是血流量较高的器官。沉积在肺部的两种ITO主要影响呼吸系统，并可能伤害肝脏或肾脏。在亚急性暴露于 ITO 后，观察到以中性粒细胞浸润和纤维化为特征的炎症，具有剂量和大小效应。我们的研究结果揭示了通过口咽吸入暴露对小鼠的毒代动力学和剂量依赖性肺毒性，同时补充 沉积在肺部的两种ITO主要影响呼吸系统，并可能伤害肝脏或肾脏。在亚急性暴露于 ITO 后，观察到以中性粒细胞浸润和纤维化为特征的炎症，具有剂量和大小效应。我们的研究结果揭示了通过口咽吸入暴露对小鼠的毒代动力学和剂量依赖性肺毒性，同时补充 沉积在肺部的两种ITO主要影响呼吸系统，并可能伤害肝脏或肾脏。在亚急性暴露于 ITO 后，观察到以中性粒细胞浸润和纤维化为特征的炎症，具有剂量和大小效应。我们的研究结果揭示了通过口咽吸入暴露对小鼠的毒代动力学和剂量依赖性肺毒性，同时补充ITO的体内风险评估。总的来说，这些数据表明，在当前的 OEL 下，暴露于 ITO 颗粒后存在潜在的毒性影响。观察到的尺寸依赖性生物分布模式和毒性效应可能对于研究小型 ITO 在职业环境中的潜在危害很重要。