Nanotechnology: A major threat...

From In These Times:

Views > January 24, 2008
Nanotech: Tiny Particles, Big Risks
By Terry J. Allen

Nanotechnology, one of the fastest growing industries in history, is a major threat to human health and the environment. Or not. The fact is, when it comes to nanotech, we don’t have any idea what the facts are.

Nonetheless, manufacturers are rushing ahead to add inadequately tested particles, one nanometer to 100 nanometers in size, to a wide and growing array of consumer products. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or the length of a fingernail as it grows in a second.

Manipulated at the level of atoms and molecules, these radical particles have fundamentally different physical, chemical and biological properties from the matter from which they were created. Benign materials may become toxic, while their nano-scale allows them to penetrate cells, even breaching the blood-brain barrier.

Currently, nanoparticles of carbon, silver, titanium, zinc and other materials are routinely incorporated into sun screens and cosmetics, sporting goods, washing machines, refrigerators, baby products, stain- and wrinkle-resistant fabrics, food, food packaging and odor-destroying products, including air fresheners and shoe liners.

In addition to “New!” and “Improved!” the technology promises enormous social good. Nanoparticles have the potential to increase the efficiency of solar panels or act as molecular sponges, absorbing toxins and reducing air pollution by, say, capturing mercury from stack emissions. Medical possibilities include precise delivery of cancer drugs and coatings that keep surgical theaters bacteria-free. Nanotech could also revolutionize materials in electronics, optics and quantum computing.

But it could also be dangerous.

www.inthesetimes.com/article/3483/nanotech_tiny_particles_big_risks/

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