Closing out our week here at Nanodot on a cheery note, some good news about carbon nanotubes, brought to us by Michael Freemantle of C&E News, regarding research done by a UK/France/Italy team:
“Carbon Nanotubes Pass Safety Test
Functionalized carbon nanotubes are rapidly cleared from blood, excreted in urine
“A new study could allay some of the fears about health and safety issues relating to carbon nanotubes and open the door for exploring the use of such nanomaterials in the body…
” ‘This careful study’ has dismissed many of the worries of using nanotubes in therapeutics, showing that solubilized nanotubes ‘flush through [mice] without being retained in organs,’ says carbon nanotube expert Pulickel M. Ajayan, professor of engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. ‘This certainly removes the shroud that has made many people nervous about using nanotubes, especially for medical applications, and opens the way for more dedicated work to develop nanotube-based therapeutics.’ “
