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Amid Nanotechnology's Dazzling Promise, Health Fears Grow.

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posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 03:15 PM
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Amid Nanotechnology's Dazzling Promise, Health Fears Grow.





www.aolnews.com...

First in a Three-Part Series

(March 24) -- For almost two years, molecular biologist Bénédicte Trouiller doused the drinking water of scores of lab mice with nano-titanium dioxide, the most common nanomaterial used in consumer products today.

She knew that earlier studies conducted in test tubes and petri dishes had shown the same particle could cause disease. But her tests at a lab at UCLA's School of Public Health were in vivo -- conducted in living organisms -- and thus regarded by some scientists as more relevant in assessing potential human harm.

Halfway through, Trouiller became alarmed: Consuming the nano-titanium dioxide was damaging or destroying the animals' DNA and chromosomes. The biological havoc continued as she repeated the studies again and again. It was a significant finding: The degrees of DNA damage and genetic instability that the 32-year-old investigator documented can be "linked to all the big killers of man, namely cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and aging," says Professor Robert Schiestl, a genetic toxicologist who ran the lab at UCLA's School of Public Health where Trouiller did her research.


Courtesy Benedicte Trouiller
UCLA molecular biologist Bénédicte Trouiller found that nano-titanium dioxide -- the nanomaterial most commonly used in consumer products today -- can damage or destroy DNA and chromosomes at degrees that can be linked to "all the big killers of man," a colleague says.


Nano-titanium dioxide is so pervasive that the Environmental Working Group says it has calculated that close to 10,000 over-the-counter products use it in one form or another. Other public health specialists put the number even higher. It's "in everything from medicine capsules and nutritional supplements, to food icing and additives, to skin creams, oils and toothpaste," Schiestl says. He adds that at least 2 million pounds of nanosized titanium dioxide are produced and used in the U.S. each year.

What's more, the particles Trouiller gave the mice to drink are just one of an endless number of engineered, atom-size structures that have been or can be made. And a number of those nanomaterials have also been shown in published, peer-reviewed studies (more than 170 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health alone) to potentially cause harm as well. Researchers have found, for instance, that carbon nanotubes -- widely used in many industrial applications -- can penetrate the lungs more deeply than asbestos and appear to cause asbestos-like, often-fatal damage more rapidly. Other nanoparticles, especially those composed of metal-chemical combinations, can cause cancer and birth defects; lead to harmful buildups in the circulatory system; and damage the heart, liver and other organs of lab animals.

Yet despite those findings, most federal agencies are doing little to nothing to ensure public safety. Consumers have virtually no way of knowing whether the products they purchase contain nanomaterials, as under current U.S. laws it is completely up to manufacturers what to put on their labels. And hundreds of interviews conducted by AOL News' senior public health correspondent over the past 15 months make it clear that movement in the government's efforts to institute safety rules and regulations for use of nanomaterials is often as flat as the read-out on a snowman's heart monitor.

"How long should the public have to wait before the government takes protective action?" says Jaydee Hanson, senior policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety. "Must the bodies stack up first?"


Big Promise Comes With Potential Perils

"Nano" comes from the Greek word for dwarf, though that falls short of conveying the true scale of this new world: Draw a line 1 inch long, and 25 million nanoparticles can fit between its beginning and end.

Apart from the materials' size, everything about nanotechnology is huge. According to the federal government and investment analysts, more than 1,300 U.S. businesses and universities are involved in related research and development. The National Science Foundation says that $60 billion to $70 billion of nano-containing products are sold in this country annually, with the majority going to the energy and electronics industries.


FDA.gov
Both the promise and the potential peril of nanomaterials come from their staggeringly small size, which is highlighted by the chart above. (Note, for example, how it shows that the periods on this page are equal to 1 million nanometers.)




Go to link above to read rest of article

[edit on 24-3-2010 by QuantumDeath]

[edit on 24-3-2010 by QuantumDeath]
Problems with link (Fixed)

[edit on 24-3-2010 by QuantumDeath]



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 03:31 PM
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Stunning.

One wonders just how much of this "technology" that has been developed, and rushed into the world without any proper study.

I was discussing today with a good friend about how sometimes scientists and developers don't actually "explore", instead they formulate an idea, and often do what it takes to make the facts fit their theory, instead of making genuine discoveries.



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 03:34 PM
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S&F

This stuff is VERY important. Please, please keep posting your finds.

Thanks



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 03:47 PM
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Good on AOL news for their initiative of posting the full text pdf of the study.

Few journalists do that.

I wonder what some companies will say in a press release? Of course downplay the risks as always.



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 04:27 PM
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I saw the article on AOL this morning.
Bad news for the nano tech industry.



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 05:31 PM
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Originally posted by Lacenaire
...
Bad news for the nano tech industry.


Why would you make that assumption? Our world is full of truly damaging crap we create, manufacture, feed ourselves and release into the environment. But because we are complex systems living within other complex systems, nothing sticks. Legal assessments have priority over epidemiological ones.

And the law, and our policies, routinely blame the victims. Pick one:

a. Bad diet;
b. Bad genes;
c. Bad lifestyle and personal choices; or
c. All of the above.

No room there to nail anyone or anything else.



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 06:10 PM
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More on health

www.safenano.org...




Nanoparticles & the Immune System: immunostimulation and immunosuppression.


12/03/2010

The benefits promised from application of nanosized products in various biological and medical applications mean that nanotechnology is finding growing applications in industry, biology, and medicine. However these benefits are often challenged by concerns about the lack of adequate data regarding their toxicity.

A paper recently published within the journal Endocrinology examines the interactions between nanoparticles and the components of the immune system. As nanoparticles can be engineered to either avoid immune system recognition or specifically inhibit or enhance the immune responses, the paper’s authors Banu S. Zolnik, África González-Fernández, Nakissa Sadrieh and Marina A. Dobrovolskaia provide a review of reported observations on nanoparticle-mediated immunostimulation and immunosuppression, focusing on possible theories regarding how manipulation of particle physicochemical properties can influence their interaction with immune cells to attain desirable immunomodulation and avoid undesirable immunotoxicity.

Banu S. Zolnik, África González-Fernández, Nakissa Sadrieh, and Marina A. Dobrovolskaia
Minireview: Nanoparticles and the Immune System
Endocrinology 151: 458-465

Source: Endocrinology online


_____________________________________________________________

The [past] studies/rescources in the links below vary from different dates (In Years).

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Cytotoxicity


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Brain: Risks studies


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Cardiovascular Effects


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Genotoxic and Developmental Effects


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Pulmonary Effects of nanoparticles


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Transport from Lungs and Systemic Effects of nanoparticles


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Renal and Kidneys


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Nanoparticles and Skin: Risk studies


www.nanoceo.net...

NanoRisksNanotechnology Risk Resources

Comparison to Asbestos


www.nanoceo.net...



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 06:37 PM
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I'm torn on both sides of this nanotech issue.

Those who know about colloidal silver, know the EPA wants to regulate nanosilver.

However, nanosilver has been shown in a peer reviewed study to attack the HIV virus, making it a potential antiretroviral.



posted on Mar, 24 2010 @ 07:59 PM
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Originally posted by jjjtir
I'm torn on both sides of this nanotech issue.

Those who know about colloidal silver, know the EPA wants to regulate nanosilver.

However, nanosilver has been shown in a peer reviewed study to attack the HIV virus, making it a potential antiretroviral.


Ever heard of thalidomide?



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