The reproductive and developmental toxicity of nanoparticles: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Because of the advantages of nanoparticles (NPs) in a variety of industrial, biomedical, and consumer applications, they are intentionally (such as in medicine) or unintentionally (environment exposure) introduced into the human body. However, to date, the detrimental effects of NPs are still unclear, especially in reproductive and developmental toxicity. In this study, we researched 266 articles related to the reproductive and developmental toxicity of NPs from 2006 to December 2016 based on the database of the Web of Science. According to the bibliometric analysis, we found that China and the United States were the leading countries in this field and the major research trends might focus on the pathogenesis of NPs, such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage. By this analysis, we provide new insights into the research trends and characteristics of the field.