An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Ecotoxicological effects of carbon nanotubes: quantification, methodological considerations, and general trends
Published
Author(s)
Elijah J. Petersen
Abstract
Carbon nanotubes are an important class of nanoparticles with a broad range of potential applications such as in polymer nanocomposites, flame resistant textiles and fabrics, biomedical approaches, and environmental applications. One limitation to the commercialization of products containing carbon nanotubes is a thorough understanding of the potential risks they may pose to humans and organisms in the environment after their inadvertent or intentional release into ecosystems. The focus of this chapter is on the potential ecotoxicological risks of carbon nanotubes. While much was speculated about this topic and the ecotoxicity of all nanoparticles in the first review papers nearly a decade ago, a substantial research effort has made progress toward answering these questions in recent years. Topics discussed in this chapter include quantification of carbon nanotubes in environmentally relevant media such as soils, sediments, water, and organisms, methodological considerations for ecotoxicity testing, two important trends in the results obtained to date (namely, the lack of absorption into systemic circulation for most organisms except for plants and the low toxicity of carbon nanotubes in soils and sediments), and potential topics for future research.
Petersen, E.
(2013),
Ecotoxicological effects of carbon nanotubes: quantification, methodological considerations, and general trends, WoodHead Publishing, Cambridge, -1, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911786
(Accessed October 4, 2024)