Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
A recent article posted on scienceline includes a claim that bacteria cannot develop resistance to silver, which is widely used as an antimicrobial. That assertion is not only false, but also dangerous. Read More
John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is Chief Health Scientist.
We and many others have made analogies between nanoparticles and asbestos. The purpose of the analogy has generally been to emphasize the long latency that can occur between exposure to toxic materials and the development and subsequent recognition of disease arising from that exposure. And, of course, the enormous legal and financial burden of failing to adequately consider risks before allowing widespread exposure. But a new study suggests that the analogy may be even stronger than we thought: It may extend to the capacity to cause mesothelioma, the rare form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. Read More
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
After posting to this blog the other day, I came across a brand new study characterizing the heterogeneity of carbon nanotubes. The authors of this study looked at 11 single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) from 10 different suppliers and found that SWCNT composition varies dramatically depending on synthesis method, feedstock, purification steps, and other factors. Read More
John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is Chief Health Scientist.
EPA’s recently released draft Nanotechnology Research Strategy (NRS) proposes a tiered testing system to evaluate human toxicity of nanomaterials. It puts in vitro tests, or those done in test tubes and petri dishes as opposed to living animals, front and center. EPA says the results of the first, in vitro tier will be used for guidance on “what health endpoints to monitor” and the second, in vivo tier will then help “identify those in vitro assays that correlate with in vivo nanomaterial toxicity or health effects.”
Wait a second. If the in vivo testing is necessary in order to figure out what the in vitro testing results really mean, how can the agency use the in vitro testing results to figure out what health endpoints to monitor? This cart and horse confusion is a serious matter. Read More
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
Each year, the journal Environmental Science & Technology selects a list of Top Papers it has published that are “expected to have a significant and long-lasting impact on the field.” For 2007, its choice for the top environmental science paper addresses a curious facet of the behavior of certain metal oxide nanoparticles: They can behave as “Trojan horses,” getting inside cultured lung cells and causing significant damage. Read More
Richard Denison, PhD, is a Senior Scientist.
Just after publishing my last post, I learned that the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products has released a new Scientific Opinion that concludes current risk assessment procedures and methods applied to cosmetics, in particular sunscreens, are insufficient. Read More
