Can Asbestos Help Us Understand Nanotoxicity?

Roland Piquepaille writes "Occupational Hazards is running an interesting article about how using our knowledge of asbestos could help us to assess the risks from nanoparticles, or their nanotoxicity. Today, it's unknown if nanomaterials under development are dangerous to human beings or to our environment. Some people think that nanoparticles can move to our lungs or our brains, presenting a significant threat to our health. Other scientists think there is no danger because we have been exposed to nanoparticles for thousands of years, such as ashes from volcanic eruptions. For example, nanotubes which are now used for many industrial developments, have similar shapes as fibers like asbestos, being long and extremely thin. And like nanomaterials today, asbestos was considered as harmless when humans were exposed to it. While the comparison has some merit, more research needs to be done before drawing any conclusion."

Comments

Re:Asbestos is not nanoscale

[bcattwoo]

There's scant concern about those - diesel engines continue to operate unabated worldwide.

I work for the EPA and happen to know a couple people looking into the health effects (in mice) of fine particulates and are just starting a new project to look at diesel particles. My fellow postdoc friend has been smelling like diesel a lot lately. The odor is really quite a nice accompanyment to lunch :)

The problem with abating diesel particulate pollution is that a lot of people will likely bitch loudly about the cost of prevention or switching to a less polluting technology. It is a lot easier to study the potential effects of a new technology before it gains widespread adoption rather than trying to put the genie back in the bottle.