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Cutting edge Nanotechnology
Nanoproduct safety testing lags
University of Dayton is a leader in exploring nanomaterials and their potential health risks.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Nanoparticles can be so small that 100,000 match the thickness of a human hair.
Yet with new tools, like the scanning tunneling electron microscope, individual atoms inside those particles can be moved around with great precision to create entirely new materials with useful electrical and chemical properties.
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Nanocarbons added to ceramic materials make for sturdy, lightweight body armor. Nanoclays added to plastic film create a barrier 50 times more air-tight than regular storage bags. Nanosilver added to clothing and shoe liners can kill odor-producing bacteria.
In the field of electronics, nanotechnology is improving displays for laptop computers and cell phones and accelerating the speed of microprocessors. In health care, nanoproducts include burn and wound dressings, a dental-bonding agent, sunscreens and sealant toothpaste.
Some day, nanotechnology may provide designer drugs that can pinpoint specific parts of the body or create tiny sensors that detect diseases in the body far earlier than existing tools.
Yet the enormous promise of nanotechnology comes mixed with uncertainty. Creating new particles with new properties may pose health and environmental problems that no one can begin to foresee, scientists warn.
Early studies suggest that some nanoparticles may pass into the bloodstream when inhaled, swallowed or applied to the skin. Once inside the body, these materials appear to reach most or all tissues and organs, including the brain.
So far, however, nearly all the studies of the penetrating effects of nanoparticles have been performed on animals, said Andrew Maynard, chief scientist for the Project on Emerging Nanotechologies at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Center.
"What's really lacking is knowing to what extent that happens in humans, and whether the body can handle those nanoparticles that do enter it," Maynard said.
The Wilson Center, which was created by Congress, estimates the government is spending only $11 million for nanotechnology safety research when it should be spending at least $50 million.
In a report issued last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that more safety testing of nanoparticles needs to be done and established a framework for doing so. In one product area at least, the FDA has begun its own studies.
"With respect to use of nanoscale materials in sunscreens in particular, the agency is currently conducting a study on skin penetration," said FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly. "We also are currently working on a regulation for over-the-counter sunscreen drug products."
Meanwhile, manufacturers continue to create new nanomaterials and new ways to use them, with more than 500 nano-enhanced products on the market and hundreds more in use as chemical additives in industry.
Ohio hopes to be on the leading wave of the nano-industrial revolution, with $9 billion of private money already invested in nanotechnology. At the University of Dayton Research Institute, the two-year-old Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanocomposites and Devices offers companies a proving ground for blending nanotechnology materials into products that could be used in a variety of industries.
UD also is poised to do research on the safety of nanomaterials, in partnership with Wright State and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. UD is one of the nation's leaders in exploring new nanomaterials, ranking second among universities in funding for materials research. AFRL is lending its facilities and expertise in toxicology.
Earlier this year, researchers at UD and Wright-Patterson, headed by Amanda Schrand, published a paper on the effect of nanodiamonds on rodent cells. It found no toxic effect. However, a new study by the same team now being reviewed for publication shows that nanodiamonds and nanocarbons can be toxic to genetic material in mice. The next step is to do testing in laboratory animals.
"We're seeing more opportunities every day for future research into nanotechnology safety and for government-funded grants looking at the safety of nanomaterials," said Mickey McCabe, vice president for research at UD.
So far, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the FDA have been unwilling to set regulatory standards for the new technology until more is known of its potential dangers. The EPA has announced it will begin collecting voluntary data from manufacturers and importers of nanomaterials and nanoproducts.
To environmental activists, that's a desertion of government duty. And for manufacturers of nanoproducts, agency inaction is one more layer of uncertainty for their industry.
"Like most things that could pose a potential danger to our health, regulation is required," said Julia Bovey of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group claiming 1.2 million members and online activists. "That's the basic expectation people have — that when something is for sale or in (medical) practice, that some government body has OK'd it."
An EPA White Paper on nanotechnology released in May "provides a good framework for research — what is unknown, what we need to figure out and what research needs to be done. But whether specific regulations might result from this, there's nothing at all," said John C. Monica Jr., an attorney for Porter Wright Morris & Arthur in Washington, D.C., who advises the nanotech industry on legal issues.
Jennifer Sass, a nanotechnology expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said labeling of nanoproducts is a must. Without it, "people are left ignorant and vulnerable to exposure to an untested and possibly unsafe new generation of chemicals."
Researchers and lab workers are at the frontline of exposure to any toxic effects from new nanomaterials, which is why UD has a program of strict controls at its nanotechnology research facilities. UD invited NIOSH to review its safety practices in September 2005, and since then, the university and NIOSH have been sharing safety information, McCabe said.
"We made some management decisions here inside the university to treat unbound nanoparticles as hazardous materials," he said. Among the "common sense" practices in place at UD include the wearing of gloves, masks, long shirts and pants and keeping food and drink out of research areas, he said.
"We don't know what the risks are, but we can reduce our risks by controlling and reducing exposure."
Contact reporter Jim DeBrosse at
(937) 225-2437 or jdebrosse@
DaytonDailyNews.com.
