{"id":1303,"date":"2021-12-08T00:36:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T23:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/?post_type=unit&p=1303"},"modified":"2021-12-08T00:36:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T23:36:31","slug":"the-principals-of-the-protecting-people-from-dangerous-nanoproducts","status":"publish","type":"unit","link":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/unit\/the-principals-of-the-protecting-people-from-dangerous-nanoproducts\/","title":{"rendered":"The principals of the protecting people from dangerous nanoproducts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How we can protect ourselves from unwanted nanostructures in the workplace<\/strong><\/p>\n

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To protect workers from hazardous nanoparticles, it is necessary to be aware of the circumstances under which such particles are created. Even in areas seemingly unrelated to nanotechnology. It is undisputed that nanoparticles are produced e.g. by the combustion process. For example, when a welder is welding, he should be wearing not only a face shield and gloves to protect himself from sparks than can burn him and damage his eyesight, but he should also protect his respiratory system as he is inhaling large quantities of nanoparticles produced by welding throughout his working time. Similarly, quantities of nanoparticles inhaled by roadwork personnel laying down asphalt surface without respirators, etc. should also be reviewed. People still inhale nanoparticles at many worksites without employers taking this into consideration and creating suitable conditions to protect their employees against pollution which, in the long-term, puts employee health at risk.<\/p>\n

If nanotechnology companies produce nanoparticles for further processing, personnel handling the nanoparticles needs to be protected by personal protective equipment. The most important in this area is the protection of mucous membranes, in particular the respiratory system and the eyes. This requires that workers be equipped with efficient respirators and goggles that fit snugly against the employee\u2019s face skin. Technological facilities working with nanomaterials also try to protect their personnel from potential risks by deploying ventilation systems, air filtering system, etc.<\/p>\n

Cleanliness of the working environment is usually best ensured in production facilities making products with nano surface treatment. If any dirt were to get on the nano layer of the product, the functionality of such product would be hindered irreversibly. Clean production environment thus protects not only the product, but also the operating personnel.<\/p>\n

Why cooperation with nanotoxicologists is needed in the development of new nanotechnology products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Safety of new nano products must be verified already during the development, i.e. long before the launch of mass production. The product needs to comply not only with the existing standards and regulations which often do not include nano solutions in their concepts, but also with regard to the possible penetration of the nanomaterial into the human body or the environment. The potential toxicity of nanoparticles developed for a specific application must be known before use in real life.<\/p>\n

Academic institutions have available the means to verify the safety of new nanomaterials and to objectively determine the mechanisms of any toxic effects of mass-produced nanoparticles as well as their potential impact on human health. It is also necessary to take into consideration what happens with the nanomaterials throughout their lifecycle, whether and in what concentrations they could represent a threat to the human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Definition<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Nanotoxicology<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanotoxicology is a branch of toxicology concerned with the study of the toxicity of nanomaterials, which can be divided into those derived from combustion processes (like diesel soot), manufacturing processes (such as spray drying or grinding) and naturally occurring processes (such as volcanic eruptions or atmospheric reactions).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How to prevent potential dangers from nanotechnology solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to make use of the unique properties of materials in nanoscale while avoiding the undesirable penetration of nanoparticles into cells and dispersion in the environment, it is necessary to develop a suitable binder and other bends between the particles and materials in macroscale. For example, if we wish to exploit the ability of nano silver to prevent bacterial growth and at the same time, we do not want the nanoparticles to reach other places than those where they are medically beneficial, we must bind them inseparably to the dressing textiles constituting the carrier. For this purpose, we use, inter alia, inseparable bonds in polymers as well as other solutions of similar effect.<\/p>\n

The Covid-19 pandemic brought up questions about how nature will handle nanomembranes in masks and respirators in the context of the pandemic. Pursuant to the European legislation, all such medical equipment is to be burned in incineration facilities. However, nanotechnologists asked themselves whether all users of nano masks and nano respirators actually behave responsibly and in compliance with the law. The irresponsibility of some consumers leads nano producers to promoting the trend of using biodegradable materials in production of organic nanofibers suitable for nanomembranes. Such approach should be adopted in production of virtually any disposable products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Definition<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Biodegradability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biodegradation is the process of decomposition of a substance in nature involving natural biological processes. Virtually any material is biodegradable, the difference is in the time required for decomposition of a substance in the natural environment. The highest requirements for quick decomposition are associated with biodegradability in a human body.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How to safely handle nanomaterials<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as we have learned to use fire to our benefit in the past, we must work even with highly reactive nanoparticles with the same level of caution and safety. Only thus can we use their unique properties in the right way. For every nanomaterial, we need to examine how its physicochemical properties change in nanoscale, what the risks are and how they can be eliminated or mitigated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Example<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Contaminants like poisons or oils can be settling in the ground for years like an environmental timebomb. Thanks to new technologies, some hidden threats can be eliminated successfully. Such cleaning process is called remediation of environmental burden. It also uses nano-iron.<\/p>\n

When a piece of iron oxidises in the macroworld, the observer perceives the process as rusting. It takes weeks or months before a common piece of iron gets rusty. Nano iron oxidises long before it hits the ground when dropped from the height of one meter. While moving, virtually the entire surface of iron nanoparticles that gets in contact with air actually reacts with the air. When exposed to air, nano iron burns so quickly that the oxidation process appears as an explosion. Nano iron in suspension for breaks down the water molecule. This produces hydrogen and if not handled properly, problems with transport and storage of nano iron could arise. Therefore, nano iron should only be handled by duly trained specialists.<\/p>\n

Having reacted with nano iron, toxic substances harmful to humans or other living organisms become non-toxic. Particularly with organic substances, nano iron usually reacts in such a way that the substance is transformed into another non-toxic substance. Nano iron is also capable of degrading toxic metal-based contaminants. Metal, even heavy metal, will always be metal, only its form will change. In the ground, metal is usually water soluble. So it can reach humans, posing a threat to them. Nano iron can convert such metal into a form that is no longer water soluble and thus it does not pose a threat anymore.<\/p>\n

Working with nano iron, it is necessary to predict and subsequently monitor the entire process of reaction with toxic substances. We need to know in advance how nano iron will react with all of the substance it will react with when cleaning the contaminated sites, how large the newly formed particles will be and what their further evolution will be.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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How to proceed in detecting possible hoaxes related to nanotechnologies<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the frequent improprieties that the internet is riddled with, is spreading of alarming and harmful chain mails called hoaxes. These include fabricated alerts and rumours. The hoax tries to convince by its artificial importance, quoting alerts by trustworthy sources, or on the other hand, it conveys a \u2018leaked\u2019 information. Hoaxes can also be defined as messages containing inaccurate, misleading information, purposedly modified half-truths or a mix of half-truths and lies. In addition to that, a hoax is usually concluded by a prompt to the recipient to spread it further.<\/p>\n

Nanotechnology and products using nano solutions are more and more often a target of hoaxes spread via the internet. People cannot imagine the nanoscale. Authors of hoaxes thus exploit the natural fear of the unknown. They often combine true information with utter nonsense. In order to debunk a hoax, the reader will need more than just the knowledge acquired at the primary or secondary school. He or she needs to look up sources. Hoaxes often refer to non-existent studies or non-existent quotes by actual or fabricated authorities. If the reader wants to find out the actual state of affairs, he or she should seek for the very sources available on trustworthy websites. They should also carefully assess the meaning of the words. If an authority claims that they are concerned about something, they should also state whether such concern is backed up by a relevant scientific study, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Example<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

In the early months of 2021, a video went viral worldwide where an American TV and film producer and the head of an anti-vax group Informed Consent Action Network Del Matthew Bigtree and an investigative journalist Jeffrey Jaxen speak of a study called: \u201cThe Need for an Evaluation of Inhalation of Micro(Nano)plastic Particles from Masks, Respirators and Homemade Masks during the Covid-19 Pandemic.\u201d They show a photograph of microfibers with captured, particles and comment: \u201cWe see micro and nano level fibres, fragments, particles everywhere. According to the study, they are just loosely bonded to the structural fibres of the product. Blue arrows show micro fibres. Red arrows indicate particles and fragments on sub-micro and nano level. You see that they are everywhere. As the study says, they are just loosely bonded. Why is this a problem? In 2012, the University of Edinburgh in the UK referred to a study they did.\u201d And the quote Professor of Respiratory Toxicology Ken Donaldson: \u201cThere have been concerns that new types of nanofibers produced by the nanotechnology industry could pose a risk as their shape is similar to that of asbestos.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the user wanted to verify this, they could search for the study on the internet using Google. If they succeeded, they should see where it was published. If such a study was published on the website of the University of Edinburgh, it would sure be worth reading. If Professor Ken Donaldson has ever said that \u201cthere have been concerns that new types of nanofibers produced by the nanotechnology industry could pose a risk as their shape is similar to that of asbestos\u201d, surely he also said whether the concerns have been proven justified, or false.<\/p>\n

The overwhelming majority of non-woven textiles used in production of face masks and respirators are made of the so-called continuous fibres which are also interwoven. Images from\u00a0 a scanning electron microscope prove that the particles were captured by the respirator, not that they are released by the respirator. There are huge quantities of dust and other particles in the air, including those commonly produced by combustion engines. Respirators and masks, particularly those made of nanofibers, commonly capture such particles due to the electrical forces present. The comparison with asbestos is completely misguided, as asbestos is one of the inorganic fibres, while respirators and masks are made of safe polymer fibres.<\/p>\n

If the user cut or tore the nanofiber face mask to pieces and exposed the nanofiber membrane, it is virtually impossible that they could extract or release a single nanofiber from the nano structure. Even in lab environment, a nano-knife or other apparatus has not yet been constructed that could remove a nanofiber from the nanofiber membrane and cut it into nanoparticles. The length of a single nanofiber is at least on the order of hundreds of micrometres to units of millimetres. Every nanofiber crosses with other nanofibers at hundreds or even more places along its length. At these points, a friction force exerted between the nanofibers does not allow for easy separation of single nanofibers from the structure. A mechanical force can lead to tearing of the nanofiber layer and separation of a cluster of nanofibers. However, such clusters resemble a wrinkle and they are tens to hundreds of microns in size. Such wrinkles have the character of common dust. When inhaled, they would be captured by the ciliated epithelium in the nasal cavity. The epithelial cells secrete mucus which traps various dust particles. The ciliated cells move the mucus into the nasopharynx, from where it travels to the digestive tract. Through the digestive tract, people then expel the impurities from the body. The size of the mucus produced does not allow it to pass through the cell wall in the digestive tract or the lining of the respiratory tract. Medical nano face masks compliant with the European standard EN 14683 are also tested for cytotoxicity and skin tolerance as a part of the certification process. The European certificate thus confirms their health safety.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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