Nanotubes=the new asbestos?
Inhaling carbon nanotubes, thought to be a key building block for tomorrow's nanotechnology, may be as harmful as inhaling asbestos. Research at the University of Edinburgh/MRC Center for Inflammation Research suggests that nanotubes, specifically long, thin fiber-like ones, can penetrate into lung tissue just as asbestos fibers do. Of course, inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to a form of cancer called mesothelioma. In the new research, the scientists observed how the nanotubes inflamed the body cavity lining of mice. From Scientific American:
LinkThe Edinburgh CIR study, which will also appear in the June issue of Nature Nanotechnology, was very specific, looking only at nanotubes that emulated fiber behavior and their potential to cause a certain type of cancer; other types of nanotubes could affect the body differently—for better or worse, researchers say.
Maynard and his colleagues focused their attention specifically on the hypothesis that long, thin carbon nanotubes could have the same impact as similarly shaped asbestos fibers. "If you get these things into the lungs," he says, "they form scarlike tissue, and the body sees them like a scaffolding, building new cells over them and thickening the walls of the lungs."
The study is not intended to keep nanotechnology from developing further but rather to flag potential dangers of nanotubes in places at manufacturing and disposal sites, the researchers wrote in their paper.
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As noted on Slashdot, the only reason Asbestos was bad was because it was improperly deployed.
Thanks to this research, we know in advance that the nanotubes can cause issues (and it sounds like this was theorized quite a while ago), and we can plan accordingly.
If only more products received this kind of scrutiny.
Damn that's stupid!
Not this research, of course, but the fact that no one noticed.
The problem with asbestos was always known to be related to its size and morphology. It's probably been commented on a number of times that carbon nanotubes of this size would present the same problem. Apparently such comments were never allowed to go public, or if they did they were ignored.
Asbestos was hailed as a miracle substance, and it really was, except for the problem of its size and shape. Hopefully, carbon nanotube technology can be 'forward engineered' enough to avoid similar shortcomings so that we can receive the benefits.
"As noted on Slashdot". Right.
Mesothelioma isn't caused by "improper deployment".
Didn't Neal Stephenson predict this in Diamond Age?
Cue the liability lawyers in 5, 4, 3, 2...
there's the matter of the quantity. Carbon nanotubes aren't going to be mined out of the ground in vast quantities with a dusty process, and then used as insulation or fire-proofing.
Most LEDs are solid Gallium Arsenide which is also poisonous and carcinogenic element. but no one cares about that.
It is well-known to just about anybody with any kind of medical background that inhaling any kind of fine powders causes inflammation and cancer.
What's next? "Being stabbed with carbon daggers can kill you: carbon is DEATH"?
@7: Yes, but only after the next Dihydrogenmonoxide (DHM) mass hysteria.
DHM kills millions every year, TP1024. I can't believe you're not aware of the danger. It could get you too. Disbelief won't protect you.
I'd have thought this is kind of a no-brainer. Any very small splinter-shaped particles of a hard (and especially crystalline) substance, such as microscopic pointy shards of mind-bogglingly strong carbon lattice, are going to dig in and stay around to cause the same type of prolonged immune system response that makes asbestos so dangerous, and people have been voicing concerns for a while now about the potential health hazards of exposure to engineered nanoparticles in general.
http://www.metavitae.com/archives/2007/02/nanoscale_mega-.php
damn, this is a disappointment.
Fear mongering rubbish.
The report describes a scarring process in the lungs, which when caused by asbestos is called "asbestosis". It is not cancer, it is scarring. It is well known that fiberglass, silica, and other materials having long, thin, microscopic structures produce similar syndromes with prolonged exposure.
As to inflammation caused by injection - I just don't think the results are a surprise. Prickly pear spines would do the same thing.
The thing that scares hygienists is that asbestos exposure may lead to mesothelioma (an always fatal cancer) and no dose-response relationship can be established. One breath or a million breaths - statistically indistinguishable.
There is NOTHING in this paper supporting ANY conclusion that nanotubes are an asbestos analog.
On the other hand, nanoparticles have a key role in a new cancer therapy currently being researched: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-invasive_RF_cancer_treatment
Jenniferfolly is right. You can mess up your lungs cutting cement board or drywall board, working with fiberglass insulation, or even breathing in saw dust. Nano has been here for years, we've just now seeing in.
I have to compliment previous posters on their informed discussion of this issue. In comparison this was reported in a local paper yesterday and the comments by the online readers were all about how nanotech was going to kill us all--one woman was ranting about how she wanted to sue the manufacturers of some sunscreen she'd been using on her kids that advertised it had nano-particles... now they're going to get cancer! Sheesh!