nanoREV.

Nanotoxicity and the Federal FY’09 Budget

A recent publication by Professor Hongjie Dai’s research team of Stanford’s department of Chemistry shows promise for the use of carbon nanotubes in biomedical applications. In their study, Dai’s group reports that after injecting mice with single-walled carbon nanotubes, “near-complete clearance [of the nanotubes] from the main organs in 2 months” and that “no toxic side effects” were observed. While these new findings are encouraging, older reports have suggested that nanotubes cause pulmonary damage to the lungs of mice. What do these reports mean to us?

One thing’s for sure: research into the toxicity of nanoparticles (i.e. “nanotoxicity”) is in fact being done and will require future funding in order to map out the effects that nanoscale materials may have on humans and the environment. To that end, in his recently submitted FY’09 Budget Proposal, President Bush has requested an increase of $12 million for NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). This increase is partly aimed at understanding the characteristics necessary to assess the toxicity of nanoparticles and to develop the tools required to measure their environmental health and safety impacts. Additionally, the FY’09 Budget increases the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget to develop cradle-to-grave and environmental impact assessments of nanoscale materials. Although toxicology studies of the effects of carbon nanotubes on mice have been performed since 2003, the results seem too few and far between to make full conclusions and accurate extrapolations to humans. With increased funding as proposed in the FY 2009 budget, we should expect too see an increase in these types of studies and hopefully, some more encouraging results. For additional reading see: “Carbon Nanotubes in Biomedical Applications” in the Nanotechnology Law and Business Journal, Issue 3, vol. 3