Review of Nanotechnology Safety

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Review of Nanotechnology Safety

• SK Dua J. Mwaisela-Rose
• Risk Management Environmental Health Safety
• Florida International University

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Nanotechnology

• Nanotechnology is the control of matter at the
  nano scale to produce new materials, structures,
  and devices.
• Multidisciplinary field, involving physics,
  chemistry, biology, engineering, and medicine.
• 2015, nanotechnology-related products predicted
  to reach 1 Trillion and employ 1 Million workers
  in US alone.
• Workers likely to have occupational exposures.
• Nanotechnology will change the nature of almost
  every human-made object.

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Beneficial Applications

• Medicine
• Electronics
• Energy Production Conservation
• National Defense Security
• Leisure Entertainment

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Presentation Outline

• Basic introduction and overview
• Potential beneficial applications of
  Nanotechnology
• Potential risks for the exploitation of the
  technology
• Occupational Safety issues and considerations in
  the application of nanotechnoloty

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Applications (Medical)

• Nanophotonics Medical Applications
• Organ tagging with nanoparticles May enhance
  basic understanding of the behavior of protein
  membranes.
• May allow body temperature adjustment to help
  with laser therapy, radiation or ultrasound
  treatment.
• Nanoparticles can be bound them to specific organ
  tissues to provide image contrasting.
• Suitable nanoparticles injected at a tumor site
  may allow treatment monitoring and
  administeration.

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Applications (Medical)

• Nanoparticles can be targeted to tumors.
• Dr. Lon Wilson, at Rice University demonstrated
  that ultrashort carbon nanotubes will permanently
  entrap At-211.
• Nanoparticles, can target magnetic resonance
  imaging (MRI), nuclear imaging, CT scanning and
  ultrasound imaging. Thus, giving far more
  complete view of tumor biology

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Applications (Medical)

• Segmented magnetic iron oxide nanoworms and
  coated with a polymer can find and attach to
  tumors
• Using nanoworms, doctors may eventually reveal
  tumors that are too small to detect by
  conventional methods.
• May carry payloads targeted to specific tumors,

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Applications (Medical)

• Nano-bio-chips like this one made of silicon (in
  blue) can be used to test saliva for
  characteristics of heart disease. The device is
  the size of a credit card and can produce results
  in as little as 15 minutes.

The round objects in back are nano-bio-chips
microfabricated from sheets stainless steel,
making them about 100 times cheaper than silicon.
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Applications

• The new armor material.
• Medicines as nanoparticles Dental-bonding agents
• Vastly improved lasers and magnetic disk heads
  made by controlling layer thickness to better
  than a nanometer.
• Sunscreens, cosmetics
• Tires, automotive catalyst supports,
  ectroconductive coatings and optical fibers.
• Explosives detection devices

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Applications

• Chemical and bio-detectors
• New generation of lasers
• Nanostructured catalysts.
• Nanoparticle reinforced materials
• Molecular sieves
• High hardness cutting tools
• A new generation of ignition interlocking
  devices,
• Cheap, high-output solar cells in lead selenide
  (PbSe) nanocrystals by avalanche effect.

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Applications

• Carbon nanotubes promise to replace metal
  entirely in future automobiles, mobile
  electronics, and other products
• Cleaner, dryer, durable products paints, stain
  and wrinkle free clothing and scratch free car
  wax, eyewear and other optical devices.
• Electronics
• Biotech -Bandages embedded with silver
  nanoparticles, drug delivery patch, man-made
  skin.

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Applications

• Nano-electromechanical sensors identify a
  chemical warfare agent.
• Nanocomposite energetic materials with more than
  twice the energy output of typical high
  explosives.
• Highly efficient materials (carbon nanotubes
  packed with gold and surrounded by lithium
  hydride) convert nuclear radiation directly into
  electricity
• Iron nanoparticles that can remove up to 96
  percent of a major contaminant from groundwater
  at an industrial site.

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Potential Safety Concerns

• Fire and explosion risk- nanoscale powders,
  nanoscale combustible material could present a
  higher risk than coarser material with a similar
  mass concentration.
• Catalytic reactions - Some nanomaterials may
  initiate depending on their composition and
  structure
• However, processes generating nanomaterials in
  the gas phase, or using or producing powders or
  slurries/ suspensions/ solutions, or that disturb
  deposited nanomaterial pose the greatest risk for
  releasing nanoparticles.

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Exposure Assessment and Characterization

• Many sampling techniques that are available for
  measuring airborne nanoaerosols vary in
  complexity but can provide useful information for
  evaluating occupational exposures with respect
  to
• particle size,
• mass,
• surface area,
• number concentration,
• composition, and
• surface properties

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Conclusions

• Some studies on the EHS effects of nanotechnology
  appear to indicate that NP have the potential to
  be unsafe.
• Nanotechnology may also offer many benefits for
  human health and the environment.

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Conclusions

• An emerging body of studies reveals that we are
  simply uncertain of effects,
• ESH concerns are lagging far behind application
  research.
• However, it would not be prudent to completely
  halt nanotech development on EHS grounds, since
  nanotechnologies may prove extremely beneficial
  to both the environment and human health in the
  long term.