Potential link between carbon nanotubes and asbestos cancer needs urgent investigation, says British Lung Foundation - 21/05/08

Carbon nanotubes could trigger diseases similar to those caused by asbestos, a study published in Nature Nanotechnology suggests. Specific lengths of the tiny fibres were found to cause "asbestos-like" inflammation and lesions in mice.

“This study shows some carbon nanotubes behave like asbestos fibres when they are introduced into the abdomen of mice and that there is therefore a potential link between these carbon molecular structures and the asbestos cancer mesothelioma,” says Dr Noemi Eiser, Medical Director at the British Lung Foundation. “At present this link is not clear, or proven, but it is imperative that the questions raised by this research are answered before the commercial use of long carbon nanotubes becomes widespread. Mesothelioma is a devastating cancer for which there is no cure and the time between diagnosis and death is short. The UK is already facing an epidemic of Mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos several decades ago and we must be vigilant about preventing future exposure.”

Carbon nanotubes are carbon molecule structures with the strength and flexibility to make them potentially useful in all kinds of areas of modern life, including electrical circuitry, concrete, drug delivery inside the body; sports equipment and clothing.

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