Tag Archives: zinc oxide

Felted carbon nanotubes

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Parachute (sculpted felt lantern). Artist and artisan felter: Chantal Cardinal. Studio: FELT à la main with LOVE

Scientists from Kiel University (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel; Germany) and the University of Trento (Italy) claim to have developed a new method for integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into new materials in a technique they describe as similar to felting according to a November 21, 2017 news item on Nanowerk,

Extremely lightweight, electrically highly conductive, and more stable than steel: due to their unique properties, carbon nanotubes would be ideal for numerous applications, from ultra-lightweight batteries to high-performance plastics, right through to medical implants. However, to date it has been difficult for science and industry to transfer the extraordinary characteristics at the nanoscale into a functional industrial application. The carbon nanotubes either cannot be combined adequately with other materials, or if they can be combined, they then lose their beneficial properties.

Scientists from the Functional Nanomaterials working group at Kiel University (CAU) and the University of Trento have now developed an alternative method, with which the tiny tubes can be combined with other materials, so that they retain their characteristic properties. As such, they “felt” the thread-like tubes into a stable 3D network that is able to withstand extreme forces.

In contrast to the ‘felted’ image which opened this posting, here’s an image of the ‘felted’ carbon nanotubes,

In this new process, the tiny, thread-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) arrange themselves – almost like felting – to form a stable, tear-resistant layer. Photo/Copyright: Fabian Schütt Courtesy: Kiel University

A November 21, 2017 Kiel University press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, expands on the theme and adds another analogy,

Industry and science have been intensively researching the significantly less than one hundred nanometre wide carbon tubes (carbon nanotubes, CNTs), in order to make use of the extraordinary properties of rolled graphene. Yet much still remains just theory. “Although carbon nanotubes are flexible like fibre strands, they are also very sensitive to changes,” explained Professor Rainer Adelung, head of the Functional Nanomaterials working group at the CAU. “With previous attempts to chemically connect them with other materials, their molecular structure also changed. This, however, made their properties deteriorate – mostly drastically.”

In contrast, the approach of the research team from Kiel and Trento is based on a simple wet chemical infiltration process. The CNTs are mixed with water and dripped into an extremely porous ceramic material made of zinc oxide, which absorbs the liquid like a sponge. The dripped thread-like CNTs attach themselves to the ceramic scaffolding, and automatically form a stable layer together, similar to a felt. The ceramic scaffolding is coated with nanotubes, so to speak. This has fascinating effects, both for the scaffolding as well as for the coating of nanotubes.

On the one hand, the stability of the ceramic scaffold increases so massively that it can bear 100,000 times its own weight. “With the CNT coating, the ceramic material can hold around 7.5kg, and without it just 50g – as if we had fitted it with a close-fitting pullover made of carbon nanotubes, which provide mechanical support,” summarised first author Fabian Schütt. “The pressure on the material is absorbed by the tensile strength of the CNT felt. Compressive forces are transformed into tensile forces.”

The principle behind this is comparable with bamboo buildings [emphasis mine], such as those widespread in Asia. Here, bamboo stems are bound so tightly with a simple rope that the lightweight material can form extremely stable scaffolding, and even entire buildings. “We do the same at the nano-scale with the CNT threads, which wrap themselves around the ceramic material – only much, much smaller,” said Helge Krüger, co-author of the publication.

The materials scientists were able to demonstrate another major advantage of their process. In a second step, they dissolved the ceramic scaffolding by using a chemical etching process. All that remains is a fine 3D network of tubes, each of which consists of a layer of tiny CNT tubes. In this way, the researchers were able to greatly increase the felt surface, and thus create more opportunities for reactions. “We basically pack the surface of an entire beach volleyball field into a one centimetre cube,” explained Schütt. The huge hollow spaces inside the three-dimensional structure can then be filled with a polymer. As such, CNTs can be connected mechanically with plastics, without their molecular structure – and thus their properties – being modified. “We can specifically arrange the CNTs and manufacture an electrically conductive composite material. To do so only requires a fraction of the usual quantity of CNTs, in order to achieve the same conductivity,” said Schütt.

Applications for use range from battery and filter technology as a filling material for conductive plastics, implants for regenerative medicine, right through to sensors and electronic components at the nano-scale. The good electrical conductivity of the tear-resistant material could in future also be interesting for flexible electronics applications, in functional clothing or in the field of medical technology, for example. “Creating a plastic which, for example, stimulates bone or heart cells to grow is conceivable,” said Adelung. Due to its simplicity, the scientists agree that the process could also be transferred to network structures made of other nanomaterials – which will further expand the range of possible applications.

So, we have ‘felting’ and bamboo buildings. I can appreciate the temptation to use multiple analogies especially since I’ve given into it, on occasion.  But, it’s never considered good style, not even when I do it.

Getting back to the work at hand, here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Hierarchical self-entangled carbon nanotube tube networks by Fabian Schütt, Stefano Signetti, Helge Krüger, Sarah Röder, Daria Smazna, Sören Kaps, Stanislav N. Gorb, Yogendra Kumar Mishra, Nicola M. Pugno, & Rainer Adelung. Nature Communications 8, Article number: 1215 (2017) doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01324-7 Published online: 31 October 2017

This is an open access paper.

One final comment, I notice that one of the authors is Nicola Pugno who was last mentioned here in an August 30, 2017 posting titled: Making spider silk stronger by feeding graphene and carbon nanotubes to spiders.

Nanopollution of marine life

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Concerns are being raised about nanosunscreens and nanotechnology-enabled marine paints and their effect on marine life, specifically, sea urchins. From a May 13, 2015 news item on Nanowerk (Note: A link has been removed),

Nanomaterials commonly used in sunscreens and boat-bottom paints are making sea urchin embryos more vulnerable to toxins, according to a study from the University of California, Davis [UC Davis]. The authors said this could pose a risk to coastal, marine and freshwater environments.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (“Copper Oxide and Zinc Oxide Nanomaterials Act as Inhibitors of Multidrug Resistance Transport in Sea Urchin Embryos: Their Role as Chemosensitizers”), is the first to show that the nanomaterials work as chemosensitizers. In cancer treatments, a chemosensitizer makes tumor cells more sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy.

Similarly, nanozinc and nanocopper made developing sea urchin embryos more sensitive to other chemicals, blocking transporters that would otherwise defend them by pumping toxins out of cells.

A May 12, 2015 UC Davis news release, which originated the news item, includes some cautions,

Nanozinc oxide is used as an additive in cosmetics such as sunscreens, toothpastes and beauty products. Nanocopper oxide is often used for electronics and technology, but also for antifouling paints, which prevent things like barnacles and mussels from attaching to boats.

“At low levels, both of these nanomaterials are nontoxic,” said co-author Gary Cherr, professor and interim director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, and an affiliate of the UC Davis Coastal Marine Sciences Institute. “However, for sea urchins in sensitive life stages, they disrupt the main defense mechanism that would otherwise protect them from environmental toxins.”

Science for safe design

Nanomaterials are tiny chemical substances measured in nanometers, which are about 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Nano-sized particles can enter the body through the skin, ingestion, or inhalation. They are being rapidly introduced across the fields of electronics, medicine and technology, where they are being used to make energy efficient batteries, clean up oil spills, and fight cancer, among many other uses. However, relatively little is known about nanomaterials with respect to the environment and health.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Copper Oxide and Zinc Oxide Nanomaterials Act as Inhibitors of Multidrug Resistance Transport in Sea Urchin Embryos: Their Role as Chemosensitizers by Bing Wu, Cristina Torres-Duarte, Bryan J. Cole, and Gary N. Cherr. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2015, 49 (9), pp 5760–5770 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b00345 Publication Date (Web): April 7, 2015

Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

While this research into nanoparticles as chemosensitizers is, according to UC Davis, the first of its kind, the concern over nanosunscreens and marine waters has been gaining traction over the last few years. For example, there’s  research featured in a June 10, 2013 article by Roberta Kwok for the University of Washington’s ‘Conservation This Week’ magazine,

Sunscreen offers protection from UV rays, reduces the risk of skin cancer, and even slows down signs of aging. Unfortunately, researchers have found that sunscreen also pollutes the ocean.

Although people have been using these products for decades, “the effect of sunscreens, as a source of introduced chemicals to the coastal marine system, has not yet been addressed,” a research team writes in PLOS ONE. Sunscreens contain chemicals not only for UV protection, but also for coloring, fragrance, and texture. And beaches are becoming ever-more-popular vacation spots; for example, nearly 10 million tourists visited Majorca Island in the Mediterranean Sea in 2010.

…

Here’s a link to the 2013 PLOS ONE paper,

Sunscreen Products as Emerging Pollutants to Coastal Waters by Antonio Tovar-Sánchez, David Sánchez-Quiles, Gotzon Basterretxea, Juan L. Benedé, Alberto Chisvert, Amparo Salvador, Ignacio Moreno-Garrido, and Julián Blasco. PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065451 Published: June 5, 2013

This is an open access journal.

US multicenter (Nano GO Consortium) study of engineered nanomaterial toxicology

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Nano Go Consortium is the name they gave a multicenter toxicology study of engineered nanomaterials which has pioneered a new approach  in the US to toxicology research. From the May 6, 2013 news item on Azonano,

For the first time, researchers from institutions around the country have conducted an identical series of toxicology tests evaluating lung-related health impacts associated with widely used engineered nanomaterials (ENMs).

The study [on rodents] provides comparable health risk data from multiple labs, which should help regulators develop policies to protect workers and consumers who come into contact with ENMs.

The May 6, 2013 North Carolina State University news release, which originated the news item, describes the results from one of two studies that were recently published by the Nano GO Consortium in Environmental Health Perspectives,

The researchers found that carbon nanotubes, which are used in everything from bicycle frames to high performance electronics, produced inflammation and inflammatory lesions in the lower portions of the lung. However, the researchers found that the nanotubes could be made less hazardous if treated to remove excess metal catalysts used in the manufacturing process or modified by adding carboxyl groups to the outer shell of the tubes to make them more easily dispersed in biological fluids.

The researchers also found that titanium dioxide nanoparticles also caused inflammation in the lower regions of the lung. Belt-shaped titanium nanoparticles caused more cellular damage in the lungs, and more pronounced lesions, than spherical nanoparticles.

Here’s a link to and a citation for this study on rodents,

Interlaboratory Evaluation of Rodent Pulmonary Responses to Engineered Nanomaterials: The NIEHS NanoGo Consortium by James C. Bonner, Rona M. Silva, Alexia J. Taylor, Jared M. Brown, Susana C. Hilderbrand, Vincent Castranova, Dale Porter, Alison Elder, Günter Oberdörster, Jack R. Harkema, Lori A. Bramble, Terrance J. Kavanagh, Dianne Botta, Andre Nel, and Kent E. Pinkerton. Environ Health Perspect (): .doi:10.1289/ehp.1205693  Published: May 06, 2013

And the information for the other study which this consortium has published,

Interlaboratory Evaluation of in Vitro Cytotoxicity and Inflammatory Responses to Engineered Nanomaterials: The NIEHS NanoGo Consortium by Tian Xia, Raymond F. Hamilton Jr, James C. Bonner, Edward D. Crandall, Alison Elder, Farnoosh Fazlollahi, Teri A. Girtsman, Kwang Kim, Somenath Mitra, Susana A. Ntim, Galya Orr, Mani Tagmount8, Alexia J. Taylor, Donatello Telesca, Ana Tolic, Christopher D. Vulpe, Andrea J. Walker, Xiang Wang, Frank A. Witzmann, Nianqiang Wu, Yumei Xie, Jeffery I. Zink, Andre Nel, and Andrij Holian. Environ Health Perspect (): .doi:10.1289/ehp.1306561 Published: May 06, 2013

Environmental Health Perspectives is an open access journal and the two studies are being offered as ‘early’ publication efforts and will be updated with the full studies at a later date.

Most interesting for me is the editorial offered by four of the researchers involved in the Nano GO Consortium, from the editorial,

Determining the health effects of ENMs presents some unique challenges. The thousands of ENMs in use today are made from an enormous range of substances, vary considerably in size, and take a diversity of shapes, including spheres, cubes, cones, tubes, and other forms. They are also produced in different laboratories across the world using a variety of methods. In the scientific literature, findings on the properties and toxicity of these materials are mixed and often difficult to compare across studies. To improve the reliability and reproducibility of data in this area, there is a need for uniform research protocols and methods, handling guidelines, procurement systems, and models.

…

Although there is still much to learn about the toxicity of ENMs, we are fortunate to start with a clean slate: There are as yet no documented incidences of human disease due to ENM exposure (Xia et al. 2009). Because ENMs are manmade rather than natural substances, we have an opportunity to design, manufacture, and use these materials in ways that allow us to reap the maximum benefits—and minimal risk—to humans.

With $13 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) awarded 13 2-year grants to advance research on the health impacts of ENMs (NIEHS 2013). [emphasis mine] Ten grants were awarded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grand Opportunities program and three were funded through the NIH Challenge Grants program. One goal of this investment was to develop reliable, reproducible methods to assess exposure and biological response to nanomaterials.

…

Within the framework of the consortium, grantees designed and conducted a series of “round-robin” experiments in which similar or identical methods were used to perform in vitro and in vivo tests on the toxicity of selected nanomaterials concurrently at 13 different laboratories.

…

Conducting experiments in a round-robin format within a consortium structure is an unfamiliar approach for most researchers. Although some researchers acknowledged that working collaboratively with such a large and diverse group at times stretched the limits of their comfort zones, the consortium ultimately proved to be “greater than the sum of its parts,” resulting in reliable, standardized protocols that would have been difficult for researchers to achieve by working independently. Indeed, many participants reflected that participating in the consortium not only benefitted their shared goals but also enhanced their individual research efforts. The round-robin approach and the overall consortium structure may be valuable models for other emerging areas of science.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the Consortium’s editorial, which is available in full,

Nano GO Consortium—A Team Science Approach to Assess Engineered Nanomaterials: Reliable Assays and Methods by Thaddeus T. Schug, Srikanth S. Nadadur, and Anne F. Johnson. Environ Health Perspect 121(2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306866 [online 06 May 2013]

I like the idea of researchers working together across institutional and geographical boundaries as that can be a very powerful approach. I hope that won’t devolve into a form of institutionalized oppression where individual researchers are forced out or ignored. In general, it’s the outlier research that often proves to be truly groundbreaking, which often generates extraordinary and informal (and sometimes formal) resistance. For an example of groundbreaking work that was rejected by other researchers who banded together informally, there’s Dan Shechtman, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, famously faced hostility from his colleagues for years over his discovery of quasicrystals.

Soybeans and nanoparticles redux

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If you read the Feb. 6, 2013 news release on EurekAlert too quickly you might not realize that only one of the two types of the tested nanoparticles adversely affects soybean plants,

Two of the most widely used nanoparticles (NPs) accumulate in soybeans — second only to corn as a key food crop in the United States — in ways previously shown to have the potential to adversely affect the crop yields and nutritional quality, a new study has found. It appears in the journal ACS Nano. [emphasis mine]

Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey and colleagues cite rapid increases in commercial and industrial uses of NPs, the building blocks of a nanotechnology industry projected to put $1 trillion worth of products on the market by 2015. Zinc oxide and cerium dioxide are among today’s most widely used NPs. Both are used in cosmetics, lotions, sunscreens and other products. They eventually go down the drain, through municipal sewage treatment plants, and wind up in the sewage sludge that some farmers apply to crops as fertilizer. Gardea-Torresdey’s team previously showed that soybean plants grown in hydroponic solutions accumulated zinc and cerium dioxide in ways that alter plant growth and could have health implications.

The question remained, however, as to whether such accumulation would occur in the real-world conditions in which farmers grow soybeans in soil, rather than nutrient solution. Other important questions included the relationship of soybean plants and NPs, the determination of their entrance into the food chain, their biotransformation and toxicity and the possible persistence of these products into the next plant generation. Their new study, performed at two world-class synchrotron facilities — the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, addressed those questions. “To our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of cerium dioxide and zinc compounds in the reproductive/edible portions of the soybean plant grown in farm soil with cerium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles. In addition, our results have shown that cerium dioxide NPs in soil can be taken up by food crops and are not biotransformed in soybeans. [emphasis mine] This suggests that cerium dioxide NPs can reach the food chain and the next soybean plant generation, with potential health implications,” the study notes.

The University of Texas El Paso Feb. 6, 2013 news release provides more detail and more clarity about the results of the research ,

Experiments led by Jorge Gardea-Torresdey, Ph.D., of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) have shown that certain man-made nanoparticles that land in soil can be transferred from the roots of plants to the grains, thus entering the food supply via crops grown for human consumption.

…

Cerium dioxide, which is commonly used in sunscreens and oil refining, remained intact when it was absorbed by the plant, and was transferred all the way into the edible soybean grains. [emphasis mine]

On the other hand, zinc oxide – commonly used in sunscreens and cosmetics – was transferred to the grain, but had broken down to a nontoxic form. [emphasis mine]

To track the nanoparticles’ route within the plants, the researchers used the intense beams of X-rays from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The X-rays also helped reveal whether or not the nanoparticles were chemically transformed in the process.

While studies are under way, Gardea-Torresdey says there is currently little information on the potential health implications of nanoparticles.

UTEP has produced a video titled, UTEP Study Shows Engineered Nanoparticles Can Enter Food Supply. This piece, which features Gardea-Torresdey and a student,  seems to be less about the study and more about the benefits of studying at UTEP and the impact of the Latino community in the US,


Here’s a citation and a link to the article (Note: This work bears a remarkable resemblance to the work mentioned in my Aug. 20, 2012 posting about soybeans and nanoparticles, not least because the studies share three or more authors),

In Situ Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Mapping and Speciation of CeO2 and ZnO Nanoparticles in Soil Cultivated Soybean (Glycine max) by Jose A. Hernandez-Viezcas, Hiram Castillo-Michel, Joy Cooke Andrews , Marine Cotte , Cyren Rico, Jose R. Peralta-Videa, Yuan Ge, John H. Priester, Patricia Ann Holden, and Jorge L. Gardea-Torresdey. ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/nn305196q Publication Date (Web): January 15, 2013

Copyright © 2013 American Chemical Society

The article is behind a paywall.

Picasso, paint, and the hard x-ray nanoprobe

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There’s the paint you put on your walls and there’s the paint you put on your body and there’s the paint artists use for their works of art. Well, it turns out that a very well known artist used common house paint to create some of his masterpieces,

Among the Picasso paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago collection, The Red Armchair is the most emblematic of his Ripolin usage and is the painting that was examined with APS X-rays at Argonne National Laboratory. To view a larger version of the image, click on it. Courtesy Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg (AIC 1957.72) © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York [downloaded from http://www.anl.gov/articles/high-energy-x-rays-shine-light-mystery-picasso-s-paints]

Among the Picasso paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago collection, The Red Armchair is the most emblematic of his Ripolin usage and is the painting that was examined with APS X-rays at Argonne National Laboratory. To view a larger version of the image, click on it. Courtesy Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg (AIC 1957.72) © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York [downloaded from http://www.anl.gov/articles/high-energy-x-rays-shine-light-mystery-picasso-s-paints]

The Art Institute of Chicago teamed with the US Argonne National Laboratory to solve a decades-long mystery as to what kind of paint Picasso used. From the Feb. 8, 2013 news item on Azonano,

The Art Institute of Chicago teamed up with Argonne National Laboratory to unravel a decades-long debate among art scholars about what kind of paint Picasso used to create his masterpieces.

The results published last month in the journal Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing adds significant weight to the widely held theory that Picasso was one of the first master painters to use common house paint rather than traditional artists’ paint. That switch in painting material gave birth to a new style of art marked by canvasses covered in glossy images with marbling, muted edges, and occasional errant paint drips but devoid of brush marks. Fast-drying enamel house paint enabled this dramatic departure from the slow-drying heavily blended oil paintings that dominated the art world up until Picasso’s time.

The key to decoding this long-standing mystery was the development of a unique high-energy X-ray instrument, called the hard X-ray nanoprobe, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) X-ray facility and the Center for Nanoscale Materials, both housed at Argonne. The nanoprobe is designed to advance the development of high-performance materials and sustainable energies by giving scientists a close up view of the type and arraignment of chemical elements in material.

At that submicroscopic level is where science and art crossed paths.

The Argonne National Laboratory Feb. 6, 2013 news release by Tona Kunz, which originated the news item,  provides more  technical detail,

Volker Rose, a physicist at Argonne, uses the nanoprobe at the APS [Advanced Photon Source]/CNM [Center for Nanoscale Materials] to study zinc oxide, a key chemical used in wide-band-gap semiconductors. White paint contains the same chemical in varying amounts, depending on the type and brand of paint, which makes it a valuable clue for learning about Picasso’s work.

By comparing decades-old paint samples collected through e-Bay purchases with samples from Picasso paintings, scientists were able to learn that the chemical makeup of paint used by Picasso matched the chemical makeup of the first commercial house paint, Ripolin. Scientists also learned about the correlation of the spacing of impurities at the nanoscale in zinc oxide, offering important clues to how zinc oxide could be modified to improve performance in a variety of products, including sensors for radiation detection, LEDs and energy-saving windows as well as liquid-crystal displays for computers, TVs and instrument panels.

“Everything that we learn about how materials are structured and how chemicals react at the nanolevel can help us in our quest to design a better and more sustainable future,” Rose said.

Physicists weren’t the first to investigate the question,

Many art conservators and historians have tried over the years to use traditional optical and electron microscopes to determine whether Picasso or one of his contemporaries was the first to break with the cultural tradition of professional painters using expensive paints designed specifically for their craft. Those art world detectives all failed, because traditional tools wouldn’t let them see deeply enough into the layers of paint or with enough resolution to distinguish between store-bought enamel paint and techniques designed to mimic its appearance.

“Appearances can deceive, so this is where art can benefit from scientific research,” said Francesca Casadio, senior conservator scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago, and co-lead author on the result publication. “We needed to reverse-engineer the paint so that we could figure out if there was a fingerprint that we could then go look for in the pictures around the world that are suspected to be painted with Ripolin, the first commercial brand of house paint.”

Just as criminals leave a signature at a crime scene, each batch of paint has a chemical signature determined by its ingredients and impurities from the area and time period it was made. These signatures can’t be imitated and lie in the nanoscale range.

Yet until now, it was difficult to differentiate the chemical components of the paint pigments from the chemical components in the binders, fillers, other additives and contaminates that were mixed in with the pigments or layered on top of them. Only the nanoprobe at the APS /CNM can distinguish that level of detail: elemental composition and nanoscale distribution of elements within individualized submicrometeric pigment particles.

“The nanoprobe at the APS and CNM allowed unprecedented visualization of information about chemical composition within a singe grain of paint pigment, significantly reducing doubt that Picasso used common house paint in some of his most famous works,” said Rose, co-lead author on the result publication titled “High-Resolution Fluorescence Mapping of Impurities in the Historical Zinc Oxide Pigments: Hard X-ray Nanoprobe Applications to the Paints of Pablo Picasso.”

The nanoprobe’s high spatial resolution and micro-focusing abilities gave it the unique ability to identify individual chemical elements and distinguish between the size of paint particles crushed by hand in artists’ studios and those crushed even smaller by manufacturing equipment. The nanoprobe peered deeper than previous similar paint studies limited to a one-micrometer viewing resolution. The nanoprobe gave scientists an unprecedented look at 30-nanometer-wide particles of paint and impurities from the paint manufacturing process. For comparison, a typical sheet of copier paper is 100,000 nanometers thick.

Using the nanoprobe, scientists were able to determine that Picasso used enamel paint to create in 1931 The Red Armchair, on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. They were also able to determine the paint brand and from what manufacturing region the paint originated.

X-ray analysis of white paints produced under the Ripolin brand and used in artists’ traditional tube paints revealed that both contained nearly contaminate-free zinc oxide pigment. However, artists’ tube paints contained more fillers of other white-colored pigments than did the Ripolin, which was mostly pure zinc oxide.

Casaido [sic] views this type of chemical characterization of paints as a having a much wider application than just the study of Picasso’s paintings. By studying the chemical composition of art materials, she said, historians can learn about trade movements in ancient times, better determine the time period a piece was created, and even learn about the artist themselves through their choice of materials.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the Art Institute of Chicago is celebrating the 100 year relationship between Picasso and Chicago, excerpted from their Jan. 14, 2013 news release,

THE ART INSTITUTE HONORS 100-YEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PICASSO AND CHICAGO WITH LANDMARK MUSEUM–WIDE CELEBRATION

First Large-Scale Picasso Exhibition Presented by the Art Institute in 30 Years Commemorates Centennial Anniversary of the Armory Show

Picasso and Chicago on View Exclusively at the Art Institute February 20–May 12, 2013

…

This winter, the Art Institute of Chicago celebrates the unique relationship between Chicago and one of the preeminent artists of the 20th century—Pablo Picasso—with special presentations, singular paintings on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and programs throughout the museum befitting the artist’s unparalleled range and influence. The centerpiece of this celebration is the major exhibition Picasso and Chicago, on view from February 20 through May 12, 2013 in the Art Institute’s Regenstein Hall, which features more than 250 works selected from the museum’s own exceptional holdings and from private collections throughout Chicago. Representing Picasso’s innovations in nearly every media—paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and ceramics—the works not only tell the story of Picasso’s artistic development but also the city’s great interest in and support for the artist since the Armory Show of 1913, a signal event in the history of modern art.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Francesca Casadio, and art conservation (specifically in regard to Winslow Homer) were mentioned here in an April 11, 2011 posting.

Toxicology convo heats up: OECD releases report on inhalation toxicity testing and Nature Nanotechnology publishes severe critique of silver toxicity overanalysis

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This has to be one of the rawest reports I’ve seen and that’s not a criticism. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) has released no. 35 in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials titled, INHALATION TOXICITY TESTING: EXPERT MEETING ON POTENTIAL REVISIONS TO OECD TEST GUIDELINES AND GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.

This report is the outcome of a meeting which took place in fall 2011 according to the July 4, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

The expert meeting on Inhalation Toxicity Testing for Nanomaterials was held on 19-20 October 2011 in The Hague, hosted by the Netherlands, with the aim of discussing the results of the OECD Sponsorship Programme (under the responsibility of SG3) on this specific topic and addressing issues relevant to inhalation toxicity. Fifty experts from the WPMN as well as the OECD Working Group of the National Coordinators for the Test Guidelines programme (WNT) participated in the meeting.

This is a partial list of recommendations from the report,

Recommendations raised by the speakers for the discussion

7. Various recommendations were raised by the speakers that served as points for discussion. These recommendations do not necessarily reflect a general agreement. …

• “Provide explicit guidance for the generation of aerosols (sample preparation) based on the exposure scenario”. Hans Muijser

• “Generation of a test atmosphere should have workplace characteristics, but should be adapted to adjust for rodent respirability”. Günter Oberdörster

• “A choice for a dry aerosol or a liquid aerosol should depend on the given test substance and planned test approach (hazard- or risk driven)”. Otto Creutzenberg

• “Aerosol characterization should include size distribution, mass, number and morphology of the material”. Günter Oberdörster

• “Mass concentration is not sufficient for comparison of nanomaterials of the same chemical composition”. Flemming Cassee

• “Dry powders will appear as agglomerate upon aerosolization, which needs to be addressed in the sample preparation guidelines”. Flemming Cassee

• “Dissolution behaviour of the test substance should be assessed in physiological fluids mimicking various lung-specific pH ambiences (neutral, acid)”. Otto Creutzenberg

• “Data analysis should include interpretation of aerosol characteristics, NOAEL, risk assessment implications, mode of action and a strategy for dosimetric extrapolation to humans. The inclusion of biokinetic data is important”. Günter Oberdörster

• “Include biokinetics in the guidance, since different distribution patterns in the whole organism are likely dependent on physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticle aerosols and the dose at the target site will therefore be different. This will allow the assessment of accumulation of nanomaterials in the body at low exposure levels and long-term exposure. A way to perform it is by radiolabelled materials, chemical elemental analysis to determine organ concentrations and transmission electron microscopy”. Wolfgang Kreyling. Others who have suggested inclusion of biokinetics or recognized the importance were Otto Creutzenberg, Frieke Kuper, Günter Oberdörster and David Warheit. (p. 13)

You actually see who made the recommendations! Speakers discussed carbon nanotubes, titanium dioxide, cerium oxide, zinc oxide and more, all of which you can read about in summary form in this 38 pp. report.

Meanwhile, Nature Nanotechnology has published an incendiary commentary about nanosilver and the latest request by the European Commission for another study.  Michael Berger has devoted a July 4, 2012 Nanowerk Spotlight article to the commentary,

A commentary by Steffen Foss Hansen and Anders Baun in this week’s Nature Nanotechnology (“When enough is enough”  [behind a paywall]) pointedly asks “when will governments and regulatory agencies stop asking for more reports and reviews, and start taking regulatory action?”

Hansen and Baun, both from the Technical University of Denmark’s Department of Environmental Engineering, take issue with yet another scientific opinion on nanosilver that has been requested by the European Commission in late 2011: “SCENIHR – Request for a scientific opinion on Nanosilver: safety, health and environmental effects and role in antimicrobial resistance” (pdf). Specifically, the EC wants SCENIHR to answer four questions under the general heading of ‘Nanosilver: safety, health and environmental effects, and role in antimicrobial resistance’.

“Most of these questions – and possibly all of them – have already been addressed by no less than 18 review articles in scientific journals, the oldest dating back to 2008, plus at least seven more reviews and reports commissioned and/or funded by governments and other organizations” Hansen tells Nanowerk. “Many of these reviews and reports go through the same literature, cover the same ground and identify many of the same data gaps and research needs.”

Here’s a prediction from Hansen and Baun as to what will be in the next report due in 2013  (from the Nature Nanotechnology commentary When enough is enough in 7, 409–411 (2012) published online  July 1, 2012 [Note: I have removed links and footnotes]),

… we predict that the SCENIHR’s upcoming review will consist of five main sections summarizing: the properties and uses of nanosilver; human and environmental toxicity; microbial resistance; risk assessment; and research needs. We also predict that the SCENIHR’s report will say something along the following lines: “Nanosilver is reportedly one of the most widely used nanomaterials in consumer products today but the scale of production and use is unknown. The antibacterial properties of nanosilver are exploited in a very diverse set of products and applications including dietary supplements, personal care products, powdered colours, textile, paper, kitchenware and food storage.” And like many previous reviews and reports, the new report is likely to cite the Consumer Product Inventory maintained by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.

…

We acknowledge that answering the question of how to regulate the use of nanosilver is not easy given the different views of the different stakeholders in this debate and the complex regulatory landscape associated with the many applications of nanosilver. …

…

Arguably, we all want that the pros and cons of regulatory policy options be based on the best available science while taking broader socio-economical and ethical aspects into consideration before deciding on the appropriate regulatory measures concerning human and environmental exposure to nanosilver. Although it is common for independent scientific experts to be commissioned to gather, analyse and review the available scientific information, and to provide recommendations on how to address a given risk, we do not see the need for further reviews. It is time for the European Commission to decide on the regulatory measures that are appropriate for nanosilver. These measures should then be implemented wholeheartedly and their effectiveness monitored.

I predict this commentary will provoke some interesting responses and I will try to add the ones I can find to this posting as they become available.

ETA July 6, 2012: Dexter Johnson weighed in with his July 5, 2012 posting (Note: I have removed a link),

What may make the matter even worse is that we may already have a pretty substantial framework—in the US, at least—on which to base nanosilver regulations, which dates back to the 1950s. It concerned what was called at the time collodial silver, which is essentially what today is called nanosilver.

But getting back to current stagnant state of affairs, it’s hard to know exactly what’s causing the paralysis. It could be concern over implementing regulations in a depressed economy, or just a fear of taking a position. But in both these instances, the lack of action is making the situation worse. …

Unintended consequences: Australians not using sunscreens to avoid nanoparticles?

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Friends of the Earth (FoE) Australia has waged a campaign against the use of nanosunscreens. It seems to have been somewhat successful but in a way that I imagine is upsetting. From the Feb. 9, 2012 news item on physorg.com,

The Cancer Council of Australia reports that we have one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with over 440,000 people receiving medical treatment for skin cancers each year, and over 1,700 people dying of all types of skin cancer annually.

The survey of public attitudes towards sunscreens with nanoparticles, commissioned by the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and conducted last month, showed that about 17% of people in Australia were so worried about the issue, they would rather risk skin cancer by going without sunscreen than use a product containing nanoparticles. [emphasis mine] [please see correction at the end of this posting]

The survey along with three research papers were presented at the 2012 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Perth,Feb. 5-9.

One of the research studies indicates that claims of  ‘nano-free’ sunscreen products may be wrong, from the Feb. 9, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

Scientists from Australia’s National Measurement Institute and overseas collaborators reported on a technique using the scattering of synchrotron light to determine the sizes of particles in sunscreens. They found that some commercial sunscreens that claim to be ‘nano-free’ do in fact contain nanostructured material. The findings highlight the need for clear definitions when describing nanomaterials.

…
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has released a statement on safety of sunscreens containing nanoparticles that concluded: “… the current weight of evidence suggests that TiO2 (titanium dioxide) and ZnO (zinc oxide) nanoparticles do not reach viable skin cells, rather, they remain on the surface of the skin and in the outer layer of the skin…”

You can get more information about the studies in either linked news item. The Australian government’s sunscreen use survey is available on this page; the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration review of the scientific literature on the safety of nanoscale (nanoparticulate) titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in sunscreens is available on this page; and the Cancer Council of Australia has information about sunscreens and nanoparticles on this page.

One can’t lay the blame for *13%* of the population’s hesitance to use any sunscreens at one door but I hope that civil societies like FoEAustralia will give a little thought to the unintended consequences of their campaigns.

The campaign was against nanosunscreens not all sunscreens but presumably coupled with other influences, it seems to have upset a significant percentage of the population to the point that they refuse to use any sunscreens at all for fear of inadvertently being exposed to nanoparticles.

Feb. 10, 2012 update: It’s a very interesting response from FoEAustralia (from the Feb. 10, 2012 article by Simon Lauder for ABC  [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] News),

“We’ve decided to recall the safe sunscreen guides that we have produced this summer until we can revise them based on new information that comes in,” Elena McMaster, the nanotechnology campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said.

“What we see with this research is that in the absence of government regulation, the nanotech industry is able to more or less make up their own rules about what constitutes a nano material,” she said.

“We are obviously probably as shocked as people in the industry about the NMI research results.

“I can’t emphasise enough how urgent we think it is that the Government regulates.”

The best FoEAustralia can offer in the face of the rather shocking information that 17% of the adult population are avoiding sunscreens altogether is a plea for more government regulation of a product that doesn’t seem to be dangerous according to research.

Dexter Johnson in his Feb. 10, 2012 Nanoclast posting noted this about the study which found that sunscreens claiming ‘no nanomaterials/nanoparticles’ did contain some,

“What we see with this research is that in the absence of government regulation, the nanotech industry is able to more or less make up their own rules about what constitutes a nano material,” said Elena McMaster, a FoE spokesperson.

That’s one interpretation, I suppose. But it could also be that traditional sunscreens might contain nanoscale particles even though no attempt had been made to manufacture or add them to the mix. Unintentional nanoparticles, if you will, not unlike those created when the tires of your car drive over the pavement.

I wonder what kind of government regulations the FoE will request. Will each container of sunscreen have to be opened and its contents examined with a scattering of synchrotron light to determine particle size?

In fact, there’s some evidence that nanoparticles are all over the place, some of them created by nature, from the May 11, 2012 article New Evidence for Natural Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles on Nanowiki,

“this creates the idea that there may be some sort of natural cycle returning some of the ions to nanoparticles.” [said Robert MacCuspie at NIST {US National Institute of Standards and Technology}] It also helps explain the discovery, over the past few years, of silver nanoparticles in locations like old mining regions that are not likely to have been exposed to man-made nanoparticles, but would have significant concentrations of silver ions. [emphasis mine]

My respect for FoEAustralia is seriously damaged by this stance they’ve taken. As far as I’m concerned they should admit they’ve made a mistake by using scare tactics to force some sort of confrontation over nanosunscreens and their strategy to force regulation of nanomaterials has backfired seriously.

Feb.21.12 correction: According to the information in the Feb. 20, 2012 posting on 2020 Science, the percentage of Australians likely to avoid using sunscreens is 13%,

This has just landed in my email in box from Craig Cormick at the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education in Australia, and I thought I would pass it on given the string of posts on nanoparticles in sunscreens on 2020 Science over the past few years:
…

“An online poll of 1,000 people, conducted in January this year, shows that one in three Australians had heard or read stories about the risks of using sunscreens with nanoparticles in them,” Dr Cormick said.

“Thirteen percent of this group were concerned or confused enough that they would be less likely to use any sunscreen, whether or not it contained nanoparticles, putting them selves at increased risk of developing potentially deadly skin cancers.

“The study also found that while one in five respondents stated they would go out of their way to avoid using sunscreens with nanoparticles in them, over three in five would need to know more information before deciding.”

*’17%’ corrected to ‘13%’ on Sept. 22, 2016.

Not enough data to assess risk for nanoscreens?

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I’m glad to see that the Friends of the Earth (FOE) civil society group (or nongovernmental agency) have responded to Andrew Maynard’s challenge. As I thought, the FOE has stated that it is impossible to assess the risk that nanoscreens (specifically the sunscreens’ titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles) present as there is not enough data.

The statement (posted in a June 15, 2010 posting on the 2020 Science blog) was made in response to a challenge by Dr. Andrew Maynard (blog owner) first issued in his June 8, 2010 posting (Friends of the Earth come down hard on nanotechnology – are they right?) and further detailed in another June 8, 2010 posting (Just how risky could nanoparticles in sunscreens be?).

FOE goes on to detail some of the problems associated with providing an answer (you can view the full statement in the first link provided in the second paragraph),

Andrew – thanks for the invitation to perform some complex risk assessment using several poorly understood variables. However we do have to point out that the world’s best minds don’t yet have enough information even to design reliable nanomaterial risk assessment processes, let alone to come up with a single ‘worst case scenario’ figure for long term health impacts of using nano-sunscreens.

The huge knowledge gaps plaguing nanomaterials toxicity and exposure assessment (along with preliminary studies suggesting the potential for serious harm) are key reasons for calls by Friends of the Earth Australia and United States for a precautionary approach to management of nanotoxicity risks.

I don’t think the sarcasm with which the authors (Georgia Miller and Ian Illuminato) open their statement is absolutely necessary but their main point is well made as it opens the door to a discussion about one’s perspective on and philosophy towards risk.

The impact that engineered nanoparticles of any kind could have on life is poorly understood and research is urgently needed. The research that has been undertaken on titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles does suggest some potentially serious problems could occur. I want to emphasize my phrasing here ‘could occur’ because to date we have no evidence that anyone using nanoscreens has had any health issues as a consequence of their use. Still, the laboratory research is concerning. So, how are we as a society and as individuals going to approach the risk?

The school of thought which supports the FOE’s application of the precautionary principle seems to be that any element of risk should curtail use until the engineered nanoparticles have been extensively tested and then declared safe. I’m not clear how testing under those conditions could ever proceed to human clinical trials. It would not be possible to test every single variable or, more importantly, every combination of variables which could result in a risk. The net result would be: no nanoscreens while people use possibly inferior to nanosunscreen products to protect themselves from the sun’s effects.

I’ve commented about the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and their assessment of nanosunscreens previously (here). Last year (2009), they, reluctantly, after an extensive meta analysis of the available research recommended nanosunscreens on the basis that there was no compelling data to suggest undue risks. The EWG has not adjusted its stance since then and, this year, are warning against sunscreens that use Vitamin A and oxybenzone as well as sunscreens that are applied in spray or powder forms.

In most circumstances I imagine that the FOE and the EWG would be natural allies as both NGOs are focused on health and safety issues. So it’s strange that the FOE did not mention the EWG report (as I noted here) in the FOE’s own 2009 report on sunscreens although they did cite research from Japan that supports the FOE’s position but was released after the EWG’s 2009 recommendations.

In the instance of nanosunscreens, there appears to be a sharp division of opinion between the two groups. I think this points to a major philosophical difference in their approaches to risk. Faced with identical (or almost so) data sets, the FOE wants to halt use until these nanoparticles are declared safe while the EWG suggests that these nanosunscreens might be safer than conventional products currently in the marketplace and recommends their use.

The approach as exemplified by the FOE is to insist on extensive testing and guarantees as to how and when nanotechnology-enabled products are safe before they ever get near the marketplace. This is the precautionary principle being applied. Given the complex environment we all navigate on a daily basis, I can certainly understand the stance. However, I am pragmatic by nature and since testing every single possible variable and combination of variables is impossible I am more inclined to consider the data that we currently have available as inconclusive. I have read some (not all) of the materials and I’ve noticed that the scientists’ conclusions are always expressed in very measured tones.

To illustrate my point about the “measured tones”, I’ve excerpted this from FOE’s response to Andrew’s challenge in the June 15, 2010 posting on 2020 Science,

FOE: Transparent micron-particle sized zinc oxide sunscreens are commercially available; a recent article suggests most titanium dioxide nano-sunscreens on the market could be doing more harm than good. No-one need use nanoparticles in order to produce a cosmetically and functionally acceptable sunscreen.

The article is in Nature Nanotechnology (behind a paywall) and it’s the published version of Dr. Amanda Barnard’s work using a computer simulation to establish potential toxicity. From the Nature Nanotechnology article,

… using this technique [computer simulation] it is possible to draw direct comparisons between the SPF, transparency and potential toxicity of nanoparticles used in sunscreens, based on fundamental nanoscale properties, and optimize these parameters numerically. In general, optimization decisions of this type are usually based on product testing under expected usage conditions, but the results presented here do complement traditional product and consumer testing activities, and can also be applied to other thermal or chemical conditions, or applied to any other material where a trade-off is necessary when balancing efficacy, aesthetics and an undesirable side effect. [emphases mine]

I gather Dr. Barnard is viewing the use of a computer simulation in research as a complement and not as a replacement for or an equivalent to traditional testing. In an interview with Anna Salleh for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Science Online website,

Dr Barnard found that the size and concentrations of nanoparticles that gave the best transparency and sun protection also gave the highest potential for production of free radicals.

“Where we have the highest sun-protection factor – and it’s pretty – it [the sunscreen] is also toxic, potentially,” she said.

“Ultimately we have to trade off. We can’t have our cake and eat it too.”

I’m not sure what sort of trade-off Dr. Barnard might be suggesting but it’s clear that she’s aware that the use of nanotechnology-enabled products such as nanosunscreens is not a simplistic ‘good (conventional sunscreens) vs. bad (nanosunscreens)’ situation.

Dexter Johnson makes note of the FOE’s response to Andrew’s challenge in his essay (Daring to Challenge NGOs on Nanotech Risk) on the Nanoclast blog with some pithy and thought-provoking comments.

I do have one major point of difference with Dexter, I find the FOE’s suggestion that the companies selling the nanosunscreen products should provide their testing information to be a good idea although I first saw it in a comment from Hilary Sutcliffe in the comments section of one of Andrew’s June 8, 2010 postings.

I do believe that NGOs are important players in the debate but the tenor of the FOE’s response to Andrew’s challenge makes it a little harder to hold on to that belief. From the June 15, 2010 posting on Andrew’s blog,

Andrew, we respectfully suggest that someone of your expertise and stature could play a more constructive role in these debates – debates which should not be limited to a question of technical risk assessment. [emphasis mine]

I think the challenge was very constructive indeed.

I did comment on this latest sunscreen discussion last week, Part 1 and Part 2 where I discuss the nature of risk, uncertainty and nanosunscreens.

Sunscreen and nano time, again (part 1)

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Before launching into another discussion about the safety of sunscreens with titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles, I’m going to mention uncertainty and risk. First, the notion of uncertainty that I”m using is proposed in a theory coined Knightian Uncertainty and comes from the field of economics. Here’s a definition from an article by Peter Dizikes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology News Office,

Frank Knight was an idiosyncratic economist who formalized a distinction between risk and uncertainty in his 1921 book, Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit. As Knight saw it, an ever-changing world brings new opportunities for businesses to make profits, but also means we have imperfect knowledge of future events. Therefore, according to Knight, risk applies to situations where we do not know the outcome of a given situation, but can accurately measure the odds. Uncertainty, on the other hand, applies to situations where we cannot know all the information we need in order to set accurate odds in the first place.

Making a distinction between uncertainty and risk is very helpful in trying to understand some of the less pleasant possibilities of nanotechnology-enabled products. As more research about titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens is published, there’s more information that can be used to assess risk.

With regard to health, two categories of risk are commonly discussed, absolute risk and relative risk. Here is a definition excerpted  from the Patient UK website,

Absolute risk of a disease is your risk of developing the disease over a time-period. We all have absolute risks of developing various diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, etc. The same absolute risk can be expressed in different ways. For example, say you have a 1 in 10 risk of developing a certain disease in your life. This can also be said a 10% risk, or a 0.1 risk – depending if you use percentages or decimals.

Relative risk is used to compare the risk in two different groups of people. For example, the groups could be ‘smokers’ and ‘non-smokers’. All sorts of groups are compared to others in medical research to see if belonging to a group increases or decreases your risk of developing certain diseases. For example, research has shown that smokers have a higher risk of developing heart disease compared to (relative to) non-smokers.

In these scenarios (heart diseases and smoking vs. non-smoking) there’s enough information to make an informed guess even though a degree of uncertainty still exists. By contrast, the situation with nanosunscreens doesn’t lend itself to an analysis of absolute or relative risk as basic information is still being gathered.

Meanwhile the civil society/activist group, Friends of the Earth (FOE) has renewed their call to remove sunscreens with titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles from the market. Andrew Maynard at 2020 Science has very carefully analysed the six studies that FOE has published on their nanosunscreen page. From Andrew’s posting,

As these are evidence-based statements, I thought it would be worth while going through them, and taking a look at the evidence they are based on:

FoE: “Manufactured nanomaterials used in sunscreens (such as zinc oxide and titanium oxide) can Damage human colon cells: A study from the University of Utah showed that nano zinc oxide is toxic to colon cells even in small amounts. The scientists called for more research and warned that the evidence is especially concerning for children who are more likely to accidently ingest sunscreen. The colon is vital because it eliminates food waste and absorbs important nutrients.”

This was a study that looked at interactions between zinc oxide (ZnO) particles and cells derived from the human colon, and was carried out in vitro (i.e. in a cell culture rather than in animals or people). It did indeed indicate that nanometer scale ZnO particles were around twice as potent as larger ZnO particles in their ability to kill these cells under idealized conditions. But the research also emphasized that direct contact with the cells was needed for a nanoscale particle-related effect. In fact, the title of the paper was “ZnO Particulate Matter Requires Cell Contact for Toxicity in Human Colon Cancer Cells,” emphasizing this point above the higher potency of the more finely structured particles.

The research was interesting, but did not resolve whether zinc oxide particles could survive long enough in the gut to come into contact with cells lining the colon, whether interactions like those observed in the laboratory are plausible under real-world conditions, and what levels of exposure would be needed to cause significant harm. The research also indicated that larger particles of zinc oxide – similar to particles that have been used in sunscreens and other topical creams for decades – were toxic to cells under the conditions of the study.

So regular and nanosized particles of zinc oxide are both toxic to colon cells with the nanosized particles being 2 x more toxic. That’s not great but we’ve been using regular sized zinc oxide particles  for quite some time and, as far as I know, no one claims that it causes colon cancer.  Also, these tests were conducted with cultures (i. e. not inside the human or any other type of body) so there’s no proof that zinc oxide of any size survives long enough to enter the colon. If there were an absolute risk associated with using regular sized zinc oxide particles, theoretically we could infer an absolute risk for nanosized zinc oxide particles.

More later today.

Sunscreen season and the latest from the Environmental Working Group

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Last year (July 9, 2009), I wrote about the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and their meta-analysis of the studies conducted on the use of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens. Much to the EWG’s surprise, they gave the sunscreens with nanoparticles a passing grade. The EWG still examines sunscreens and, according to an article by Ariel Schwartz on the Fast Company site, have some concerns,

Sunscreen is supposed to protect us from cancer, but a new report from the Environmental Working Group claims that many products don’t do what they’re supposed to. Some sunscreens contains ingredients that might even trigger skin tumors and lesions, according to the EWG’s 2010 Sunscreen Guide.

This year’s problem (from the EWG site),

A surge in exaggerated SPF claims above 50 and new disclosures about potentially hazardous ingredients, in particular recently developed government data linking the common sunscreen ingredient vitamin A to accelerated development of skin tumors and lesions.

If you plan to spend some time investigating  the EWG’s report on sunscreens, be prepared to receive a request to sign up (but it’s not required) before viewing the report.