SAFENANO Community

So you want to make or use carbon nanotubes, but you are worried about handling then safely.  What do you do?  The good news is that the UK Health and Safety Executive has just published an information sheet that addresses just this question.  Risk management of carbon nanotubes is (according to the blurb) “specifically about the ...

From 2020science: Nanotechnology—like other emerging technologies—presents a dilemma:  If you're making new substances with uncertain health risks, how low is low enough when it comes to managing exposure? The issue is raised in the current edition of Nature Nanotechnology by Vladimir Murashov of the National Institute for Occupational ...

  November saw the publication of a commentary in Nature Nanotech bearing the title “The US must help set international standards for nanotechnology” (here). As the title suggests, the document was an exhortation for the US to take an active role in the development of standards, particularly through the International Standards Organisation ...

An article on the potential health risks of nanosilver published in 'The Scotsman' newspaper has prompted fresh debate in this controversial area. The article, published in Sunday's issue of The Scotsman, attempts to examine exactly how safe use of as-yet unregulated colloidal nanosilver products really is, features commentary from all sides of ...

The SafeNANO blog is no stranger to the use (and possible abuse) of nanometre-scale silver—products ranging from silver-enhanced socks and toothpaste to plush toys and cure-alls have all appeared in the spotlight recently.  With each passing month, the number of nano-silver gizmos on the market is growing.  Back in March 2006 when the ...

Amidst the cacophony of debate swirling around the true meaning of nanotechnology, I head a voice or reason last week.  The voice was that of Dr. Bernd Sachweh of BASF, speaking at the European Aerosol Conference in Thessoloniki.I paraphrase, but the essence of Bernd’s point was this:‘Nano’ is not a thing or a product.  It has no ...

Painted metal roofs are cheap, convenient, and usually very durable.  But over the past two years, a rash of accelerated ageing has blighted pre-painted steel roofing in Australia.  And intriguingly the ageing—which affects the coating—seems to be localized to small patches, taking on the form of fingerprints, handprints and even ...

It seems that significant nanoparticle risk studies are just like London buses, you wait ages for one to arrive and then two come along together.   Last month we had the Poland et al. study concerning the hazardous nature of MWCNT. This highly reported study was the first to explicitly test the hypothesis that long carbon nanotubes behave ...

The author Neal Stephenson got it wrong—at least, if this week’s nano-news is anything to go by!   In his landmark 1995 novel “The Diamond Age,” Stephenson described a future built on nano-innovation.  But thirteen years later, nanotechnology seems to be ushering in “The Silver Age.”  And to some it’s looking a little ...

Read some accounts of nanotechnology risks, and you might be forgiven for concluding that a single engineered nanoparticle can kill you.  Of course, a little critical thinking soon dispels this notion—we are constantly bombarded with incidental nanoparticles from sources that include cars, incinerators and fires; we have been since ...