The National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health is at the forefront of the effort to
understand the health and safety ramifications of working with nanomaterials.
There have been an increasing number of scientific publications from the
research community at large—including a new study issued just this week—that
address one type of nanomaterial in particular, carbon
nanotubes, and seek to determine if they biologically behave like asbestos.
That is, if inhaled,
are carbon nanotubes likely to cause irreparable and fatal effects such as
those associated with asbestos exposure? The effects of asbestos include severe
lung fibrosis or scarring, lung cancer, including cancer of the lining of the
lungs or pleura called mesothelioma. Carbon
nanotubes are tiny, cylindrical, manufactured forms of carbon.
There is no single type
of carbon nanotube. One type can differ from another in terms of shape
(single-walled or multi-walled) or in chemical composition (pure carbon or
containing metals or other materials). Carbon
nanotube exposures can potentially occur not only in the process of
manufacturing them, but also at the point of incorporating these materials into
polymer composites, medical nano applications, and electronics.
