NSF-funded Rice study will trace path of nanomaterials Researchers want to know if particles can be transported through food chain
Working to ensure the safe use of nanomaterials is the basis of a new Rice study funded by the National Science Foundation.
He said the study will take a proactive approach to the potential dangers of nanoparticles, a subject that has found its way into the popular press in recent years.
“When you have an increase in the production of nanomaterials, I can assure you some will enter the environment through waste or the manufacturing process,” said Alvarez. “We’re focusing on fullerenes, and this grant is aimed at trying to understand their impact.
“One aspect is to look at what nanomaterials do to, or in, the environment,” he said. But Alvarez and Colvin are turning the tables to see what the environment does to nanomaterials. “When you alter the structure of fullerenes, via bacterial means or fungi or enzymes, you may also affect their toxicity or reactivity.”
John Fortner, a Rice research scientist whose thesis was on fullerene behavior in water, said fullerenes made with 14C, a mildly radioactive carbon isotope, were manufactured for the study. The tagged fullerenes can be tracked easily as they’re altered by microbes, specifically fungi, and even monitored if they are completely broken down into carbon dioxide molecules.
“Fungi are amazing in their tolerance and what they can degrade,” said Fortner. “It is amazing what fungi can break down biochemically, from pollutants to wood, even things like tires and nylon.”
It’s how fungi change the structure of the fullerene molecules, if at all, that’s of interest and how that material is released back into the environment. “In what form will they reach an organism, and will that form be detrimental? That’s a tough question to answer,” he said.
The good news, said Alvarez, is that “we’ll be able to know for sure where they end up. We also plan to study whether this nanomaterial bioaccumulates and whether it can be transported through the food chain.
“There are many critical gaps in determining how dangerous nanomaterial is,” he said. “So our strategy is to inform safety by design, safe disposal and safe manufacturing and handling.” ###
Contact: Mike Williams mikewilliams@rice.edu 713-348-6728 Rice University
Tags: Nano or Nanotechnology and Nanotech
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