Nanotubes are microscopically tiny cylinders of carbon that are used to manufacture light and strong materials. They are used in tennis racquets, golf clubs and bicycles, for instance. They were discovered in 1991 and researchers have
Nanotubes are microscopically tiny cylinders of carbon that are used to manufacture light and strong materials. They are used in tennis racquets, golf clubs and bicycles, for instance. They were discovered in 1991 and researchers have been investigating their properties and potential dangers since then.
There is strong similarity to the tiny fibers of asbestos which were used decades ago in many household and construction materials. They became embedded in the lungs of people exposed to air containing them, as in asbestos mines, construction sites, plumbing work, drywall, etc.
Nothing happened for 30 or 40 years, but now many of those people have been developing asbestosis and mesothelioma, two fatal illnesses caused by the continued presence of asbestos fibers in the body. Now researchers are wondering if nanotubes might present a similar danger.
But this time, as Anthony Seaton has said, a professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland: “…we’re forewarned and forearmed now with respect to nanotubes.”
Macrophages normally save the day
We breathe in all kinds of particles in the course of everyday living, and normally it is not a problem. Cells known as macrophages have the job of scavenging such particles, engulfing them, and carrying them away in the bloodstream for excretion.
But asbestos is a remarkable substance. It one of Earth’s elements, and is a fibrous mineral. It is fire resistant, it blocks sound, and it resists chemical change. No wonder it was used in so many products for a long time. It also resists macrophages; in fact, it destroys them, and they linger at that site, building up and forming tumors. That is why asbestos fibers have been able to remain in the lungs for so many years. They are too long for macrophages to deal with.
Study comparing asbestos fibers and nanotubes
By injecting mice wit