Scientists work to reduce harmful asbestos-like effects of nanotubes

A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology in May, found that longer threads of carbon nanotubes share some of the same properties as asbestos, including the ability to cause disease. In response, a chemistry professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut and his graduate students has published results showing that it may be possible to reduce the potential danger. The original study which showed the possible harmful effects indicated that tiny carbon nanotubes, which scientists have considered to be potentially important in future development of technology, might be as dangerous as asbestos. The work was carried out on a collaborative basis by researchers at British institutes and a U.S. based Project on Emerging Nanotechnology. The research involved injecting mice with asbestos or with samples of various sizes of carbon nanotubes. When the scientists examined the lining of the abdominal cavities of the mice, they found that longer carbon nanotube strands caused the same types of inflammation and lesions that were caused by asbestos fibers. Carbon nanotubes are currently available for sale, but the authors of the study say they are not certain the extent that the materials have already been used in industrial materials and consumer products such as electronics. Carbon nanotubes, the researchers say, are expected to eventually be used in composite metal structures and in consumer electronics, among other products. However, while the uncertainty over the extent of the use of carbon nanotubes still exists, the authors of the study hope that exerting pressure on companies which are developing products and technologies that use the nanotubes will prompt them to release details about the types of nanotubes they are using. Andrew Maynard of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, one of the authors of the study, says the results of the study show that in terms of the possible dangers posed by nanotubes “there are no simple answers…” The new work, by Professor Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos of the University of Connecticut was published in “Nature Nanotechnology” and describes how Papadimitrakopoulos and his graduate students worked out a method of isolating nanotubes of particular chiralities. Chirality is a chemical property in which some chemical molecules have mirror image forms. In other words, two molecules of the same substance might have slightly different forms. In some substances, one chiral version of the molecule is harmless, but the other chiral version might be harmful. By isolating nanotubes of particular chiralities, says Papadimitrakopoulos, the possible harmful effects of the tiny nanoparticles might be reduced or eliminated. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)