The health risks of nanotechnology

[NHE]

Here's an interesting article on the health risks of nanotechnology.


Amid Nanotech's Dazzling Promise, Health Risks Grow

For almost two years, molecular biologist Bénédicte Trouiller doused the drinking water of scores of lab mice with nano-titanium dioxide, the most common nanomaterial used in consumer products today.

She knew that earlier studies conducted in test tubes and petri dishes had shown the same particle could cause disease. But her tests at a lab at UCLA's School of Public Health were in vivo -- conducted in living organisms -- and thus regarded by some scientists as more relevant in assessing potential human harm.

Halfway through, Trouiller became alarmed: Consuming the nano-titanium dioxide was damaging or destroying the animals' DNA and chromosomes. The biological havoc continued as she repeated the studies again and again. It was a significant finding: The degrees of DNA damage and genetic instability that the 32-year-old investigator documented can be "linked to all the big killers of man, namely cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and aging," says Professor Robert Schiestl, a genetic toxicologist who ran the lab at UCLA's School of Public Health where Trouiller did her research.

The article continues at <link>. Parts 2 & 3 of this series on nanotechnology can be found at <link>.

[shye]

Thanks for posting this NHE
Interesting, i had just purchased a lipstick in the health store, hemp oil based, all natural--thinking it would be so much better than the usual ones. So I just checked the label--sure enough, titanium dioxide!(as well as iron oxide, which we MSer's surely don't need )-
frightening what gets done to us.

[NHE]

Thanks for posting this NHE
Interesting, i had just purchased a lipstick in the health store, hemp oil based, all natural--thinking it would be so much better than the usual ones. So I just checked the label--sure enough, titanium dioxide! (as well as iron oxide, which we MSer's surely don't need )-
frightening what gets done to us.

According to the series of articles, normal titanium dioxide is inert and should not be a hazard. The problem is that nano scale particulates of titanium dioxide behave differently and that the FDA currently does not require labeling to distinguish between the two. Therefore, nano scale titanium dioxide particulates fall under "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) distinction even though they have been shown to be carcinogenic.

NHE

[hwebb]

if your cosmetic product is clear after applied, it's likely it contains the nano-particles. Nano particles are often included to provide a sunscreen factor, without the opacity that would come from including bigger particles.

For instance, zinc cream has regular sized particles. Sunscreens like "invisible zinc", and some of the Olay range, have zinc nanoparticles.

The nanoparticles are much more expensive than regular sized particles, so tend to be used in premium products.

[shye]

hwebb-
thanks for the clarification-- I will actually email the company and find out for sure (seems to be the nano, since pretty clear)--and will check other products from now on, and likewise inquire from the producer--
and if turns out is nano, will let them know they lost a customer, and why.
If companies start getting inquiries about this, and then complaints and lost business, they will soon catch on that the consumer is concerned.

[whyRwehere]

You just can't trust any products anymore