Re: Nano consumer product warning - was:The validity of the environmental neurotoxic effects of toxigenic molds and mycotoxins

[Guest guest]

I hope the following helps.

Some of the discussion of nano-tech is misinformed or misunderstood. It is

definitely very generalized and bias against the term, apparently based on fear

of toxic effects.

The discussion truly needs clarification, as much from an understanding of the

basic sciences as from the terminology and market use of the terms. Nano tech is

a very complex and broad use of the term that came about many decades ago. This

quoted paragraph at the very bottom of this post is from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

It may help you sort out what is or is not " nano-tech " . See also,

buckminsterfullerens, aka bucky balls. The really interesting, and awe-inspiring

thing about bucky balls is that they take the same shape as the Buckminster

Fuller geodesic dome design; where Mr. Fuller arranged pentagons in a pattern

that created a light weight, but incredibly strong dome structure. The bucky

balls are molecules that naturally and automatically arrange themselves in an

identical manner, creating nano sized balls that look like Bucky's geo-dome! My

question is How did Bucky know to arrange them this way when nature already had

it figured out?

These happen to be a very important building blocks for many nano experiments

and products.

A knee jerk reaction to avoid anything 'nano' is irresponsible, and basically

impossible. Things 'nano' are always present.

If I may add, there is a tendency to label materials as nano because the

chemistry is at a nano level.

For example, materials like organo-silanes can perform specific individual

reactions or catalysis on the surface, the material is not released in a form

that is an exposure risk to individuals. The result of the nano function can be

as simple as releasing water, i.e., it is a hydrophobic material that allows

easy and natural permanent cleaning - like a wax that does not allow anything to

" stick " .

The term nano comes about because the fabrication of the material's molecules is

conducted at the " nano level " ; the actual result is a coating (e.g., self

cleaning glass); in some cases nano manufactured molecule is imbedded in a

matrix (e.g., self-cleaning cement/concrete). In other cases it is a catalyst,

TiO2 or other that will react with the water molecules in the air (vapor) and

create H2O2 (similar to the production of H2O2 in cells). The catalyst does not

get released nor does it change except during the nearly immeasurable time of

the reaction to create the end product.

The nano part of this is the development of the material as well as the intended

function of the material. However, much of chemistry is based on these types of

reactions.

Remember, nano tech is different than nano particles - in the end, reductionism

will define everything as made of " nano particles " . Please don't confuse this.

For example, the fragrances in perfumes are molecules of various synthesized

molecules that trigger our olfactory sensory organ; by the definition that was

provide by another post, they are " nano " particles.

The real " nano-tech " comes about when a molecule is specifically designed to

perform a desired function, like a small part of a mechanical device. This is

the part that gets interesting - it is possible to build little molecular sized

" robots " , even microscopes!

Nano tech does not mean the creation of many small particles that are going to

get into your body.

So, if you want to know if a technology or product is safe, ask about the

exposures. If you want to know if it's 'nano', ask how it's made or if it

performs a desired function at the molecular level. Again, this gets confusing,

a pharmacuetical compound only works because molecules are interacting with some

physiological function in the body, usually cellular, which alters the function

in a manner that changes the body or the symptoms experienced by the body.

(If you're really afraid of something very small getting into your body's cells,

read some science fiction, better, read something non-fiction like " Science News

Weekly " or Daily " . Lots of short articles on nano science and technology. You

will find, yes, the tiny robots are coming to a theater near you! They can't be

stopped. Oh, unless they have built in a kill-switch, so after the function is

complete, they dismantle themselves. Or, if you're really concerned, they can be

programmed to reproduce themselves, ad nauseum. Until they take over the world.

If you think cockroaches could survice nuclear/toxic destruction, wait to you

think about these little molecular robots.)

Anyway, enough of that.

Here is the quote:

The National Science Foundation (a major distributor for nanotechnology research

in the United States) funded researcher Berube to study the field of

nanotechnology. His findings are published in the monograph Nano-Hype: The Truth

Behind the Nanotechnology Buzz. This published study (with a foreword by Mikhail

Roco, Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation)

concludes that much of what is sold as " nanotechnology " is in fact a recasting

of straightforward materials science, which is leading to a " nanotech industry

built solely on selling nanotubes, nanowires, and the like " which will " end up

with a few suppliers selling low margin products in huge volumes. " Further

applications which require actual manipulation or arrangement of nanoscale

components await further research. Though technologies branded with the term

'nano' are sometimes little related to and fall far short of the most ambitious

and transformative technological goals of the sort in molecular manufacturing

proposals, the term still connotes such ideas. According to Berube, there may be

a danger that a " nano bubble " will form, or is forming already, from the use of

the term by sc ientists and entrepreneurs to garner funding, regardless of

interest in the transformative possibilities of more ambitious and far-sighted

work.[24]

Armour, M.S.

Director, Cleveland Chapter of IAQA

" The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of

thinking that created them. " A.Einstein