I would like to post a message regarding concerns I have about some types of nanoparticle which could represent an environmental threat. There didn't seem to be a fitting forum for this. I didn't see anything for nanoparticles either - it's a pretty big field now.

I have seen invitations to Nanotoxicology conferences and also calls for this "new topic" to be explored. Here is a link to the University of Edinburgh, UK. http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=307

Nanotechnology is very new and thus potential risks to health are only now beginning to emerge. It will be interesting to see how objective big business will be in analysing these issues. We don't want to see a repeat of what happened between the tobacco giants and health care experts.

Ken Donaldson works in the lab next to ours. It was work being done by post-docs in his lab that promped my initial posting. "Nanotubes" have the potential to be even more dangerous than asbestos fibers but whereas asbestos is usually well contained (in building materials), nanotubes may find their way into anything from cleaning solutions to car tyres and thus enter the environment (....and then our lungs).

Parvoman:

Unfortunately, history indicates that big business very rarely does more testing than they are required. The only way to require them to do safety efficacy studies is through regulatory mandates by agencies such as EPA, FDA, etc. Unfortunately, as you have eluded to, the lobbyist control these agencies. And big business controls the lobbyist. Therefore, until there is an overwhelming connection in the the public's eye (such as lung cancer and cigarettes), extra precautions will only be viewed as an impedence to progress by big business. Unfortunately this sort of policy puts us all at potential risk.

Here's the latest from the carbon nanotube toxicity work:

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v3/n7/abs/nnano.2008.111.html



We now seem to have engineered nanoparticles in our TV dinners. They are used to help heat transfer in foods being microwaved...anyone for chicken tikka ?