Nanotechnology Possesses Dazzling, Dangerous Potential - Deutsche Welle, Germany

Nanotechnology seeks to create new products by harnessing incredibly small substances. It already forms the foundation for developments such as high-capacity hard drives, bright, iridescent car paint and a scratch-proof coating for eyeglasses.

While the industry is booming, the potential dangers to humans remain unknown. Although the debate over risk remains very preliminary, potentially dangerous aspects are already beginning to emerge.

Scientists Explore The Role Nanoparticles May Play In Disease - Science Daily, USA

Nanoparticles are a thousand times smaller than the bacteria, E. coli, but recent advances in microscopy have allowed researchers to watch them interact with cells in the body. Kidneys stones start as tiny calcifications which later become larger and eventually develop into kidney stones. Dr. Lieske hypothesizes that the nanoparticle causes the initial calcification.

It is not yet known where nanoparticles that are implicated in kidney stones and atherosclerosis originate – whether our bodies contain them naturally or we obtain them from the environment.

Nanotechnology Industry is Moving from Research to Production with over 500 Consumer Nano-Products Already Available - NanoVIP, USA
The nanotech industry is moving from research to production with over 500 consumer nano-products already available. Though nanotechnology has long been seen as tomorrow’s technology, developers of nanoproducts are focused on today’s market opportunities. Some previous limitations have been addressed thanks to improvements in the dispersion of nanoparticles and the decrease in the production cost of nanotubes.

Call for research into effects of consuming nano-sized food - Food Manufacture, UK
More research is needed into the effects of consuming nano-sized food particles, according to the chairman of a Food Standards Agency (FSA) advisory committee on novel foods.
Professor Mike Gasson, who chairs the FSA’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), said very little data existed on the oral uptake of nanoparticles and their potential passage though the gut wall.

Big Worries About Micro Particles - The Tyee, Canada

Silver nanoparticles lace the insides of mattresses, bandages, washing machines, baby soothers, teddy bears and socks.

Long known for its antimicrobial properties, silver is more effective at the nano-scale, particles a billionth of a metre in diameter. It's effective enough that the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States will consider it a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. Over 500 consumer products in North America hype their nano-sized composition, with silver the nano-star of the moment. A few people study it, wondering if "it" will be an environmental and health disaster.