See this article: Amid Nanotech’s Dazzling Promise Health Risks Grow.
New studies on nano-sized titanimum dioxide show degrees of DNA damage and genetic instability that can be “linked to all the big killers of man, namely cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and aging,”
Close to 10,000 over-the-counter products use it in one form or another. It’s “in everything from medicine capsules and nutritional supplements, to food icing and additives, to skin creams, oils and toothpaste.”
“Other nanomaterials have also been shown in published, peer-reviewed studies…to potentially cause harm as well. Researchers have found, for instance, that carbon nanotubes — widely used in many industrial applications — can penetrate the lungs more deeply than asbestos and appear to cause asbestos-like, often-fatal damage more rapidly. Other nanoparticles, especially those composed of metal-chemical combinations, can cause cancer and birth defects; lead to harmful buildups in the circulatory system; and damage the heart, liver and other organs of lab animals.”
The article goes on to give a great overview of nanotechnology, including a chart showing relative sizes of particles in nanometers.
Worth reading.
This article is actually the first in a series on nanotechnology. Here are links to the rest of the articles:
Also in This Series:
- Regulated or Not, Nano-Foods Coming to a Store Near You
- Obsession With Growth Stymies Regulators
- Why Nanotech Hasn’t (Yet) Triggered the ‘Yuck Factor’
- Nano-Products Are Everywhere
Background:
