---------- forwarded message ----------
http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=445
Nano's Troubled Waters: Latest
toxic warning shows
nanoparticles cause brain
damage in aquatic species and
highlights need for a
moratorium on the release of
new nanomaterials
ETC Group Genotype
Thursday, 1 April 2004
http://www.etcgroup.org
Nano’s Troubled Waters:
Latest toxic warning shows nanoparticles cause brain
damage in aquatic species and highlights need for a
moratorium on the release of new nanomaterials
A new study revealing that engineered carbon
molecules known as "buckyballs" cause brain damage in
fish is one more brick in the wall of evidence suggesting
that manufactured nanoparticles are harmful to the
environment and to health. The results of the study
highlight the urgency to heed ETC Group’s 2002 call for
a moratorium on manufactured nanoparticles in
commercial products and they back up last month’s
recommendation by the Institut für ökologische
Wirtschaftforschung – in a report commissioned by the
European Parliament – that nanoparticles should not be
released into the environment.(1) Recent scientific
studies have raised serious concerns about the toxicity
of nanoparticles (see "Ten Toxic Warnings," below). This
latest study, which has yet to be published, is the first
to simulate what could happen when nanoparticles are
released into the environment.
-- snip --
Ten Toxic Warnings
1) 1997 – Titanium dioxide/zinc oxide nanoparticles from
sunscreen are found to cause free radicals in skin cells,
damaging DNA. (Oxford University and Montreal
University) Dunford, Salinaro et al.(8)
2) March 2002 – Researchers from the Center for
Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN,
Rice University, Houston) report to US EPA that
engineered nanoparticles accumulate in the organs of
lab animals and are taken up by cells. "We know that
nanomaterials have been taken up by cells. That sets off
alarms. If bacteria can take them up then we have an
entry point for nanomaterials into the food chain." – Dr.
Mark Wiesner(9)
3) March 2003 – Researchers from NASA/Johnson Space
Center report that studies on effects of nanotubes on
the lungs of rats produced more toxic response than
quartz dust. Scientists from DuPont Haskell laboratory
present varying but still worrying findings on nanotube
toxicity. "The message is clear. People should take precautions.
Nanotubes can be highly toxic." – Dr. Robert Hunter (NASA
researcher)(10)
4) March 2003 – ETC group publishes first scientific
literature survey on nanoparticle toxicity by
toxicopathologist Vyvyan Howard. Dr. Howard concludes
that the smaller the particle, the higher its likely toxicity
and that nanoparticles have various routes into the body
and across membranes such as the blood brain barrier.
"Full hazard assessments should be performed to
establish the safety of species of particle before
manufacturing is licensed. We are dealing with a
potentially hazardous process." – Dr. Vyvyan Howard(11)
5) July 2003 – Nature reports on work by CBEN scientist
Mason Tomson that shows buckyballs can travel
unhindered through the soil. "Unpublished studies by the team
show that the nanoparticles could easily be absorbed by
earthworms, possibly allowing them to move up the food-chain
and reach humans" –
Dr. Vicki Colvin, the Center’s director(12)
6) January 2004 – Research by Dr. Günter Oberdörster is
published showing that nanoparticles are able to move
easily from the nasal passageway to the brain. "The
nanotechnology revolution may design particles that are very
different chemically from the ones we are exposed to, and
they might have very different properties that made them
more harmful. We should be vigilant."
– Professor Ken Donaldson, University of Edinburgh(13)
7) January 2004 – Nanosafety researchers from University
of Leuven, Belgium, write in Nature that nanoparticles will
require new toxicity tests: "We consider that producers of
nanomaterials have a duty to provide relevant toxicity test
results for any new material, according to prevailing
international guidelines on risk assessment. Even some 'old'
chemical agents may need to be reassessed if their physical
state is substantially different from that which existed when
they were assessed initially."– Peter H. M. Hoet, Abderrrahim
Nemmar and Benoit Nemery, University of Belgium (14)
8) January 2004 – At the first scientific conference on
nanotoxicity, Nanotox 2004, Dr. Vyvyan Howard
presents initial findings that gold nanoparticles can
move across the placenta from mother to fetus.(15)
9) February 2004 – Scientists at University of California,
San Diego discover that cadmium selenide nanoparticles
(quantum dots) can break down in the human body
potentially causing cadmium poisoning. "This is probably
something the [research] community doesn't want to hear."
– Mike Sailor, UC San Diego.(16)
10) March 2004 – Dr. Eva Oberdörster reports to American
Chemical Society meeting that buckyballs cause brain
damage in juvenile fish along with changes in gene
function. They also are toxic to small crustaceans (water
fleas). "Given the rapid onset of brain damage, it is
important to further test and assess the risks and benefits
of this new technology before use becomes even more
widespread." – Dr. Eva Oberdörster.(17)
http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=445
---------- end forwarded message ----------
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/technology/29nano.html
Vincent Pang
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