SAFENANO Community

Following the widely publicised release of Song et. al.'s study into lung disease in Chinese workers expoed to nanoparticles in the workplace (accessible here), there was of course much discussion within both the nano and wider community as to the paper's implications and its issues. SAFENANO published a special feature on the ...

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 ...

Into the babble of conflicting and confusing terms surrounding nanotechnology, let me introduce another one: “wysinwig nanoparticles”—what-you-see-is-NOT-what-you-get nanoparticles.  It describes particles that have an annoying habit of revealing their true identity only after they have been painstakingly measured, monitored and ...

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 ...

This week, BSI (the national standards body of the U.K.) published what is perhaps the most practical guide to working safely with engineered nanomaterials to date.“Nanotechnologies – Part 2: Guide to safe handling and disposal of manufactured nanomaterials” (aka PD 6699-2:2007) is one of BSI’s “nano-nine”: nine nanotechnology documents either ...

The British Standards Institute today published the first publicly available extensive guide to safe handling of nanomaterials.  PD 6699-2:2007 Nanotechnologies – Part 2: Guide to safe handling and disposal of manufactured nanomaterials provides step-by-step guidance through the general approach to management of risks, information needs, ...

What do Alzheimers and body armour have in common?  The answer could lie in the structures formed when proteins self-assemble at the nanoscale.  At the end of last year, The Daily Telegraph Science Editor Roger Highfield wrote in an article:“The protein linked with Alzheimer's disease has inspired the design of ''nanoyarns'' that could ...

It’s been a long slog, but the end of 2007 is in sight.  A year of endless meetings, papers by the bunch, and more frequent flyer miles than any sane person should rack up (got to get that Carbon footprint under control). But did this all add up to progress on the safe nano front?  Here’s my personal and admittedly subjective round-up of ...

So you’ve developed an obsessive nano-silver Benny the Bear paw-chewing habit, and on the advice of your hairdresser, you’re quaffing silver nanoparticle suspensions by the pint.  What do you get?  Well, according to a story airing on CNN this week, what you get is… blue skin!According to the article, Paul Karason started the transition ...