The end of several nanotech applications?

[TetsuoShima]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7408705.stm

 

Carbon nanotubes, the poster child of the burgeoning nanotechnology industry, could trigger diseases similar to those caused by asbestos, a study suggests.

 

It was to be expected of course, that things would go wrong, if you'd use the technology carelessly. Small particles behave differently than what we're used to in the 'normal sized' world and have the potential to penetrate the body much 'deeper'. I always suspected these sort of problems would crop up sooner or later, obviously I was not the only one who was suspicious of widespread nanotech usage. I'm guessing very strict regulation will be necessary to make sure the usage of this technology is as safe as possible, given the great potential for disaster once its usage becomes more widespread.

[GorunNova]

Heh... keep in mind that in that study the nanotubes were injected into the mice... so far, tests involving inhalation of carbon nanotubes by mice shows a minor infection that disappears in a month or two (or so that article also states).

 

i.e. it could be dangerous to inject those things directly into our lungs (through the chest, with a needle!), but who's going to do that?  Yes, this requires more study... but in situations more realistic than just injecting stuff deep inside mice and waiting for bad things to happen.  More extensive tests of inhalation would be a lot more useful than that direct injection study. -_-'

[TetsuoShima]

About the inhalation, what I was thinking of, the infection dissapears after one month if no longer exposed, but what if the usage of nanoparticles became so widespread that it would become hard to find an indoor place where there are none. Constant infection? I'm confident they won't let it come to that of course, but that's why usage should be clearly monitored and regulated.

 

After all, it's hard to filter these smal particles cheaply and indoor ventilation will probably not be enough to get rid of the particles if their usage becomes widespread enough. There are countless usefull applications for nanomaterials, but because of these restrictions that are bound to appear sooner or later (and rightfully so) their usage will probably become much more restricted or at least the things they are used in will become more expensive because they need to make sure they don't 'lose parts'. In the end, the places where they manufacture these things will of course be most at risk.

 

I do think that it's nothing good regulations and practices can't handle.

 

Of course, I'm talking like it's already been 'proven' on humans too, but I'm confident that humans will be 'irritated' by these particles just as much as mice are. I obviously don't have any evidence, but it seems only logical to me. In the end it's probably going to come down to concentration, how much can be allowed in the air before it becomes a menace.

[bbbb]

I think we're getting a lot of these new technologies from ones presented in star trek.

 

Nanotechnology, I never thought they'd develop that so soon. They really should tread carefully with this because if it does make us sick then it won't be very useful, unless you wanted it that way. A new weapon perhaps for the military industrial complex?

[hayden]

I think thats a bit of an extreme notion.. Perhaps more of an ecological disaster like most things we make these days?  :P

[GorunNova]

My point was... it's hard to accept that carbon nanotubes are as dangerous as asbestos when the only study that says so involved injecting varying length quantities of the tubes directly into the test subjects abdomens.  You sure as hell don't have to inject asbestos into peoples' abdomens to make them sick, and nanotubes are typically not implemented in forms where they'll become airborne very easily.  Also, keep in mind that asbestos flakes into powder and becomes airborne with very little effort, but plastics reinforced with nanotubes do NOT.