Nanotubes could cause lung disease like asbestos
Could nanotechnology revive an old killer? That's the fear being raised by the discovery that carbon nanotubes shred the lung lining in a similar way to asbestos fibres. Ken Donaldson at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and colleagues injected carbon nanotubes into the abdominal cavity of mice. One week later, the tissue surrounding the abdominal organs of the mice showed a level of inflammation similar to that caused by asbestos exposure.