Carbon nanotubes and other tiny particles are becoming more and more part of consumer goods. They are also found in organisms from the lowest to the highest food chain.
Η nanotechnology προωθεί μια νέα βιομηχανική επανάσταση. Η procedure manufacturing materials on an incredibly small scale (a human hair is about 80.000 nanometers wide) has led to advances in everything from electronics and paints to cosmetics and clothing. However, their small size also poses a threat as a new type of pollution. According to new research, nanomaterials can easily end up in the environment, enter living organisms and pass through the food chain.
In an article that published in the journal Nature Communications, The researchers they traced nanomaterials (which can range in size from 1 to 100 nanometers) throughout the food chain. Starting with the detection of nanomaterials in algae and then following those materials as they moved to the zooplankton that ate the algae and then to the fish that ate the zooplankton. At each step, the nanoparticles changed size and shape and spread throughout the organism's body, penetrating cells and entering organs. In fish, nanoparticles accumulate in the brain.
Fazel A. Monikh, lead author and researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, isn't exactly sure why these nanoparticles accumulate in the fish's brain, but says the situation is concerning, especially since these nanomaterials are often not listed as ingredients in products , or you may not be aware that they exist in the product you are purchasing. And because there is no worldwide respexcept definition of what a nanomaterial is, makes it difficult to label or regulate them.
These nanomaterials who entered the food chain are different from microplastics , pieces less than five millimeters long and nanoplastics, even from fragments smaller than 0,001 millimeters. This type of pollution occurs when plastic enters an environment and degrades into smaller and smaller pieces.
Nanomaterials are something completely different, as they are objects that people design to be so small. Example the carbon nanotubes stronger than steel but lighter than aluminum, used in touch screens and solar cells, or titanium dioxide nanoparticles used in sunscreen to help the product blend into our skin.
The regulation of nanoparticles is difficult because there is not yet a good enough test to show us the percentage of their presence. Measuring the presence of nanoparticles by mass, as we do for the detection of chemicals, is not enough, because it does not take into account their physical composition and structure. For his research, Monikh developed a method for isolating and extracting nanoparticles from organisms' tissue, which allowed researchers to measure each type of nanomaterial.
Οι εταιρείες σπεύδουν να ενσωματώσουν αυτήν την technology στα προϊόντα τους, αλλά δεν έχει γίνει ακόμα πλήρης κατανόηση του κινδύνου τους, έτσι ώστε να αρχίζουν να εμφανίζονται ρυθμιστικά πλαίσια. “Αυτό το υλικό έχει σχήμα, μέγεθος, φυσικά όρια, και διαφορετικά πράγματα συσσωρεύονται σε αυτό”, λέει ο Monikh. “Το υπάρχον πρωτόκολλο δεν έχει απάντηση για τέτοια υλικά, επειδή τα πρωτόκολλα είναι για χημικά και τα χημικά είναι ομοιόμορφα”.
We will need more work to understand the potential damage, if any, that the material may cause. Monikh and his team hope that responsible politicians will also address this issue and start implementing regulations on the use of nanomaterials, especially as we look forward to learning more about them.
"We can not stop this new revolution, we can never fight companies, but what we can do is design safe nanomaterials, because if we know the results, we can design them to be safe," he said. "We have to tell the companies: Do not rush, just wait. "Let's see first what the danger is."
