Improved treatments for cancer, better window coatings, and effective sunscreens are among the many outcomes of nanotechnology, the study of structures so small they are measured in the same way that one measures light. The field is growing rapidly, and a wide variety of nanomaterials are flowing into consumer goods and waste streams.
\nBut we don\u2019t know much about the long-term effects of these new materials, according to associate professor of chemistry Murphy Brasuel and student Kelsey Wise \u201912, whose peer-reviewed article on the subject was published last month in the journal \u201cNanotechnogy, Science and Applications.\u201d
\n\tTheir article, \u201cThe current state of engineered nanomaterials in consumer goods and waste streams: the need to develop nanoproperty-quantifiable sensors for monitoring engineered nanomaterials,\u201d is a review of current applications of certain nanoparticles, methods used to characterize and quantify them, their presence in the environment, and what research has been done into their toxicity.
\nBrasuel, whose graduate work was on the development of nanoparticle sensors to monitor communication between cells, notes that nanoparticles have different properties than the same substance in larger form \u2013 one reason that so little is known about the effects of nanomaterials . A nanoparticle of titanium oxide, for example, a key ingredient in some mineral-based sunscreens, is different than a \u201cbulk\u201d version of the same material.
\nThe nano version of titanium oxide is valued for its ability to be spread transparently over the skin as it absorbs UV light. It\u2019s used as a pigment in toothpaste and some foods, has potential in solar and fuel cells and hydrogen production, and it\u2019s used in self-cleaning windows because it\u2019s good at creating reactive species that break down organic materials.
\nBesides titanium oxide, the article discussed four other nanomaterials that are in demand or will be soon be available to consumers. These are carbon nanotubes (used in cosmetics, paints, filters, and reinforced plastics), semiconductor quantum dots (poised to be used in targeted drug delivery, cancer detection, and image-guided surgery), and gold and silver (used widely in consumer products). The article notes that the properties that make these nanomaterials so useful could also make them toxic.
\n\u201cBut we don\u2019t know,\u201d said Brasuel, who called for more work on possible effects.
\n\u201cNanotechnology is growing very rapidly on the development side but not so much on the regulation of exposure side,\u201d Brasuel said. \u201cHow do we monitor these materials in the environment?\u201d
\nBrasuel and Wise discovered that relatively little has been done to study possible effects of exposure. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to talk about this without fearmongering,\u201d said Brasuel, who notes that some consumer groups fear the worse and are against nanotechnology, while industry groups tend to emphasize their view that nanoparticles are absolutely safe.
\n\t\u201cThe truth is probably in between,\u201d Brasuel said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be completely benign, but not so harmful, either.\u201d
\n\tBrasuel, who is incoming chair of the chemistry department, and Wise, who is also a captain of the college\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team, worked most of the summer of 2010 and the spring semester of 2011 on the article.
\n\t\u201cI learned something completely new and fascinating,\u201d said Wise of her work on the article. She spent this summer in a pre-med program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where she worked with a psychologist doing research on tumors in children.
\nHer work on nanotechnology contributed to her thinking about technology and society and long-term effects as she studied this summer, she said, noting that nanoparticles are used in some cancer treatment, though not in the work she did at Baylor.
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s so new. There\u2019s a lot to be done,\u201d Wise said. She returns to Colorado College in August for soccer practice \u2013 she plays center midfield \u2013 and for her senior year as a chemistry major. She plans to apply to medical school. She\u2019s from Fairview, Texas, and went to high school nearby in Allen, Texas.
\nThe Dean\u2019s Advisory Committee and the Colorado College Venture Grant Fund supported Brasuel and Wise\u2019s research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Improved treatments for cancer, better window coatings, and effective sunscreens are among the many outcomes of nanotechnology, the study of structures so small they are measured in the same way that one measures light. The field is growing rapidly, and a wide variety of nanomaterials are flowing into consumer goods and waste streams. But we … <\/p>\n