Carbon nanotubes are as dangerous as asbestos

Inhalation of long multi-walled carbon nanotubes can be as harmful to health as inhalation of asbestos. The fibrogenicity and carcinogenicity of asbestos fibers is well known: for this reason, the material has recently been banned for use in interior decoration. In 2008, the Center for Inflammatory Diseases at the University of Edinburgh (MRC Center for Inflammation Research) found that carbon nanotubes cause the same breathing problems and can provoke the same dangerous and rare form of cancer — mesothelioma, an incurable pulmonary pleura lesion that can manifest 30-40 years after inhalation of asbestos.

Given the high hopes that are placed on carbon nanotubes, the research of scientists could seriously complicate the implementation of some projects. The unique material is supposed to be used in various spheres: from microelectronics to ultrastrong composite plastic, from new medicines to batteries. Engineers created projects based on the assumption that the material was harmless by direct contact with a person.

Doctors conducted a study on the effects on the body of a laboratory mouse of long nanotubes with a thickness of 2-50 cylinders located along a common axis (in the photo above). Such a material and under a microscope similar to asbestos fibers, and has the same properties when released into the lungs. The unique damaging ability of asbestos is due to the ultra-small diameter and large length of fibers. This combination of characteristics allows the fibers to penetrate deep into the lungs, but does not allow the immune system to destroy them. Carbon nanotubes have the same properties. Particularly dangerous can be multilayer nanotubes composed of several cylindrical layers, because such structures especially well retain their shape and sharp edges.

Scientists have long noted the similarity between asbestos fibers and carbon nanotubes. But in 2008, for the first time, the concerns of physicians were confirmed by the results of laboratory experience. Almost five years have passed since the aforementioned experiment, but so far no additional experiments have been carried out to reliably verify the accumulation of nanotubes in the lungs. You need to make sure the immune system can destroy them over the years, or they accumulate like mineral fibers from asbestos.
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The scientific work of the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases at the University of Edinburgh was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology in May 2008 . “There is an urgent need to check how carbon nanotubes are used, you need to see if there is a chance that people are exposed to hazardous materials,” said then Dr. Andrew Maynard, one of the co-authors of the study. He added that for decades nobody paid attention to the danger of asbestos until it was too late for many people.

There is a risk that the same story will repeat with nanotubes: it is such a unique material that it is extremely profitable for corporations to implement it as quickly as possible. No one will conduct long-term clinical trials, especially if the first fatal victims appear only after 30-40 years.

On the other hand, the danger of asbestos and nanotubes may be exaggerated. In any electronic device you will find dozens of substances dangerous to life. And remember the usual cigarettes. As it turned out, smoking tobacco grown on mineral fertilizers leads to the accumulation of radioactive polonium-210 in the lungs , not to mention the other chemicals. Life in general is a dangerous thing.

PS As it turned out, the experiment of 2008 did not go unnoticed, and to date, several dozen papers have been published on the effects of nanotubes on lung tissue (thanks, consumer ).