Washington
Carbon nanoparticles break barriers — and that may not be good
Researchers from the schools of science and medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have examined the effects of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) on living cells. This work is among the first to study CNPs at concentrations low enough to mimic the actual exposure of an ordinary individual.
The effects on the human body of exposure to CNPs are just beginning to be revealed. Exposure at the level studied by the IUPUI researchers is approximately equivalent to what might be the result of improperly disposing of an item such as a television or computer monitor containing CNPs, living near a CNP-producing facility, or working with CNPs.
The research focuses on the effect of low concentration CNP exposure on kidney cells. The investigators found significant and potentially worrisome effects.
“Unlike many other studies, we have used low concentrations of CNPs that are typical of what might appear in the body after ingesting them from environmental contamination or even from breathing air with CNPs. We found that these minute particles cause leakage in the cellular lining of the renal nephron,” said study first author Bonnie Blazer-Yost, Ph.D. “Breaching this biological barrier concerns us because things that should be retained in the forming urine can leak back into the blood stream and things in the blood can leak into the urine. Normal biological substances as well as waste products are dangerous if they go where they are not supposed to be.”
“These CNPs don’t kill cells — so they are not lethal, but they do affect cells, and in this case it’s an adverse effect,” said corresponding and senior author Frank Witzmann, Ph.D. Biological barriers are very important to human health. The most well understood is the skin, but there are many others. “The human body needs intact barriers, whether it be skin, airway linings, gut walls or the kidney cells we looked at in this study. We need to gain a better understanding of how CNPs modify and change characteristics of barriers as these tiny particles become more common in the air we breathe,” he said.
The two researchers note that these incredibly strong particles, visible only under an electron microscope, are useful for drug delivery and advanced electronics. What they worry about is the danger to human exposure to CNPs from inappropriate manufacturing and disposal procedures.
Read more: http://goo.gl/4h6j8
Researchers from the schools of science and medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have examined the effects of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) on living cells. This work is among the first to study CNPs at concentrations low enough to mimic the actual exposure of an ordinary individual.
The effects on the human body of exposure to CNPs are just beginning to be revealed. Exposure at the level studied by the IUPUI researchers is approximately equivalent to what might be the result of improperly disposing of an item such as a television or computer monitor containing CNPs, living near a CNP-producing facility, or working with CNPs.
The research focuses on the effect of low concentration CNP exposure on kidney cells. The investigators found significant and potentially worrisome effects.
“Unlike many other studies, we have used low concentrations of CNPs that are typical of what might appear in the body after ingesting them from environmental contamination or even from breathing air with CNPs. We found that these minute particles cause leakage in the cellular lining of the renal nephron,” said study first author Bonnie Blazer-Yost, Ph.D. “Breaching this biological barrier concerns us because things that should be retained in the forming urine can leak back into the blood stream and things in the blood can leak into the urine. Normal biological substances as well as waste products are dangerous if they go where they are not supposed to be.”
“These CNPs don’t kill cells — so they are not lethal, but they do affect cells, and in this case it’s an adverse effect,” said corresponding and senior author Frank Witzmann, Ph.D. Biological barriers are very important to human health. The most well understood is the skin, but there are many others. “The human body needs intact barriers, whether it be skin, airway linings, gut walls or the kidney cells we looked at in this study. We need to gain a better understanding of how CNPs modify and change characteristics of barriers as these tiny particles become more common in the air we breathe,” he said.
The two researchers note that these incredibly strong particles, visible only under an electron microscope, are useful for drug delivery and advanced electronics. What they worry about is the danger to human exposure to CNPs from inappropriate manufacturing and disposal procedures.
Read more: http://goo.gl/4h6j8
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