Table 2.

Systematization of the toxicity results described in the literature for chitosan, PLA, PHA, PLGA, and PCL nanomaterials.

The number in each cell represents the number of studies supporting each conclusion according to the following color scheme: red indicates studies where all the concentrations tested induced an effect; orange indicates studies where at least one concentration tested induced an effect; green indicates studies that revealed no toxicity for any of the concentrations tested; (blank) no data available. Further details on each study are described in Tables 3–8.

^a“Bare” polymer nanomaterials produced using crosslinkers or surfactants only, and which were not loaded with drugs, genes or proteins.

^b“Blend” polymeric nanomaterials, functionalized/chemically modified polymers or particles loaded with drugs, genes, or proteins).

^*Genotoxicity includes Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity.