INVISIBLE INDUSTRY Article by Celia Jackson
Photography by Eric Schmitz
Heavy instruments perch droid-like on sturdy tables, each providing a unique view of the molecular world.
Some of the instruments measure to lengths so small, the very vibration of sound disturbs their images.
A footstep or even a whisper can ruffle the molecules like a breeze through leaves.
Machines like these are behind the science of nanotechnology at the University of Washington Nanotech User Facility. Here at the lab, students, scientists and private companies come together to create technology so small light misses it.
"Despite that you can’t see it, it’s actually quite visual and graphic," Francois Baneyx, the director of nanotechnology at University of Washington said. "That’s what makes it so sexy."
This is not science fiction confined solely in a lab. Nanotechnology exists everywhere: in clothes, skin-care lotions, even washing machines. While hundreds of companies are taking advantage of molecular level engineering, nanotechnology may be polluting our bodies and the environment.
A nanometer is to a meter as a soccer ball is to the Earth, or 10,000 times narrower than a human hair, according to the University of Washington (UW) Department of Nanotechnology.
Qiuming Yu, the lab manager and principal research scientist at the Nanotech User Facility, has seen a shift from academics to industry and a skyrocketing interest in nanotechnology. The lab has seen 200 new users in the last year, Yu said.
"Before it was just lab research," Yu said. "Now it’s moved from research to development."
Some new developments in nanotechnology have met resistance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory bodies worried about possible human and environmental health risks.
On Jan. 28, 2008, the EPA launched its new Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program to help the agency better understand how nanotechnology is used in industry, and what kinds of risk management practices are used. The basic program invites companies to voluntarily report their data to the EPA. It’s not a regulatory system; it simply gathers information. This will help the agency make informed regulatory decisions, according to the EPA.
The cosmetics industry serves as an example of nanomaterials being put on the market before the effects on consumer and environmental health are known. L’Oreal, Clinique and Neutrogena are not names usually associated with nanotechnology, but they are some of the top producers of products containing nanomaterials.
Nanomaterials are popular in cosmetics because of their ability to deeply penetrate skin tissue. They function as transporters for key ingredients in skin care products, many of which are anti-aging creams. Users of cosmetics, which are often applied on a daily basis, are especially prone to the triple threats of tissue penetration, inhalation and ingestion of nanomaterials. But the effects of nanomaterials in the body is relatively unknown.
Nanotechnology is currently controlled under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which reviews new chemicals for environmental or human-health hazards, according to the EPA. The TSCA has an inclusive inventory list of "existing" chemicals, but nanotechnology hangs in a scientific limbo.
The EPA reviews chemicals under the TSCA according to molecular composition, but a nano-sized substance may only be a smaller version of an existing chemical. Although a smaller structure may exhibit different physical and chemical properties, nanotechnology is not reviewed separately, according to the EPA.
Last year the EPA issued a ruling that classified a new washing machine by Samsung as a pesticide producer because it released nano-silver particles to kill germs in clothing. Wastewater from the machines containing nearly 100 quadrillion silver ions could reach public water systems with unknown effects. Studying environmental effects is part of an assessment program that Samsung will have to undergo in an approval process planned for completion in May of 2009, according to the EPA.
Ionized silver nanoparticles are used to kill germs. They can be applied as a sealant or a spray, and many companies are beginning to apply nanosilver on kitchen countertops, sinks, couches, and other household items. Despite its sanitizing qualities, nanosilver may be more reactive and require new standards to protect human and environmental health.
"My concern would be evolution of resistance," Baneyx said.
In the same way that insects become immune to pesticides, microbes could develop resistance to silver.
Working at nano scale changes certain properties, including reactivity, that could affect how materials behave in the environment. As a material gets smaller, the ratio of surface area to volume increases, providing more area for chemical reactions, according to Nigel Purchon, a biology teacher and author of a Web site serving science educators in the United Kingdom. This is similar to taking a slice of bread and cutting it into smaller and smaller parts. Every time the bread is cut, there are more sides to spread butter on, according to Purchon’s Web site.
Nanomaterials also vary widely in shape, an important factor in carcinogenic studies. Materials like asbestos cause cancer because their size and shape allow them to slip into the cracks of DNA and damage proteins in the lungs.
Nanomaterials are so small they can enter the blood stream through skin membranes, and have been shown to cross into brain tissues, Baneyx said.
A study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 2005 saw severe DNA damage in the heart and arteries of lab mice when exposed to carbon nanotubes.
A study by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) in 2005 indicated risk for inhalation of carbon nanotubes. In the study, the lungs of rats were injected with nanotubes at levels nanotechnology employees are exposed to over a 17-day period. The rats experienced severe lung damage.
The U.S. has invested less than $40 million for health and safety research in an industry currently worth $30 billion, according the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2014, only six years away, nanomaterials are projected to make up $2.6 trillion of the global market. Around 400 products are currently advertised as using nanomaterials. In 2006, the most popular were gold, titanium dioxide, silica, zinc, carbon and silver, according to the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Although health and safety research is being done, studies are conducted by private companies and voluntarily reported to governmental agencies.
In Berkeley, Calif., city officials have created legislation requiring companies to disclose information on certain nanomaterials. Although the law only covers materials used in Berkeley, other cities are following suit. Cambridge, Mass. is looking into creating its own regulations.
Counties and cities can create more stringent laws than their state, in the same way states can be more stringent than the federal government. But regulating the use and disposal of potentially dangerous products is challenging. It’s difficult to regulate what people throw away in the trash, said Jeffery Hegedus, the Environmental Health Supervisor for the Whatcom County Health Department.
Bellingham has not looked into regulating nanotechnology. However, Washington State’s Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) program works with companies to help study the nanotechnology they employ.
Isotron, a nanotech and polymer science company based in Seattle, works with SHARP. It’s important for companies to work with SHARP to assess their technology, said Isotron co-founder Christina Lomasney. Nanotechnology is such a broad science that it’s hard to relate research across all fields, Lomasney said.
Back at the UW lab, excitement over the possibilities of nanotechnology reigns king. Standards will eventually be developed for determining the toxicity of nanomaterials, Baneyx said. For many chemicals, scientists didn’t recognize toxicity levels until years after manufacturers put the chemicals on the market.
While nanotechnology is revolutionizing industry, possible health threats are slowly being discovered. Scientists have the means to determine the potential hazards of nanomaterials, but whether this happens will depend on the thoroughness of governmental regulations and the cooperation of private industry.
Celia Jacksonstudies environmental policy. This is her first published piece.
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