Another Study Links Nanotubes To Mesothelioma

In addition to last week's nanotechnology discussion panel in Australia, further news on the topic comes stateside in the form of a new study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The findings of the study, which were reported to the public on March 23, serve to raise the alarm on the potential hazards related to how nanotube products interact with our bodies. In the NIOSH study, laboratory mice inhaled a specialized liquid that contained multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The results are troubling - the mice manifested numerous pulmonary health symptoms, including lung inflammation and fibrosis of the lungs. Symptoms were determined to continue following exposure and exhibited similar behavior to interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.

Even more alarming, the study concluded that MWCNTs also found their way into the lining of the lungs (known as the pleura). Though other studies have indicated such a migration is taking place, the NIOSH study is the first to prove that aspirated carbon nanotubes do in, in fact, migrate to the pleura in lab mice. In this way, nanotubes function startlingly similar to asbestos fibers, and it is hypothesized that over time these MWCNTs could very well lead to mesothelioma.

Though the NIOSH team stresses that these are only the preliminary findings of the study, a peer review of the report will likely confirm the initial data. Similar findings have already been documented in previous studies.

As such data continues to leak out regarding the potential hazards of nanotech products, steps must be taken to protect both the employees who manufacture such products and the general public that consumes them. Though the proliferation of nantotech products is growing at an exponential rate (and these products show promise in creating a vast number of superior products) extreme caution and further research should precede the rush to profit from these new materials.

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