ICON Blog

A paper just released today in Nature Nanotechnology links certain multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) to a disease caused by exposure to asbestos. This is the second paper in the last three months to explore whether certain MWNT conform to the fiber paradigm which links exposure to long, stiff fibers to serious diseases of the mesothelium. The latest study, carried out by a group in the UK, uses much smaller doses of MWNT than the Japanese paper and compares the effects of long straight MWNT to short tangled MWNT. The Nature Nanotechnology paper finds that the long straight nanotubes induce inflammation and formation of granulomas with "asbestos-like pathogenic behaviour". The response was similar to that induced by long-fiber amosite, a type of asbestos. A non-fibrous nanoparticulate carbon black sample was run as a control and did not show the same effect as the fibers.

More information about both these papers, as well as commentaries by experts in the area, can be found in the latest ICON Backgrounder.