Nothing so small to escape Hooke's inquiry

...and by the help of Microscopes, there is nothing so small as to escape our inquiry; hence there is a new visible World discovered to the understanding.

The truth is, the Science of Nature has been already too long made only a work of the Brain and the Fancy: It is now high time that it should return to the plainness and soundness of Observations on material and obvious things. It is said of great Empires, That the best way to preserve them from decay, is to bring them back to the first Principles, and Arts, on which they did begin. The same is undoubtedly true in Philosophy, that by wandring far away into invisible Notions, has almost quite destroy'd it self, and it can never be recovered, or continued, but by returning into the same sensible paths, in which it did at first proceed.

Robert Hooke, (1635-1703) Preface to Micrographia








“Risk is an inevitable partner of innovation and regulation is a major means by which we manage the utilitarian trade-off!” Thus we need to continuously measure up relative damages and benefits in all risk claims against present technologies in use!



A key issue in understanding the system of innovation in nanomaterials is that the great majority of nanomaterials are not consumer products to be sold to an end user, but ‘capital’ materials to be used by other industries in order to make new products. In this sense most nanomaterials can be understood as ‘products for process innovation’. This is why supplier and manufacturing firms occupy the central position in nanoma-terials innovation systems. The innovation system for nanomaterials can therefore be conceptualised as an ‘hourglass model’ (figure 2-VI) in which a variety of scientific disciplines support the development of a number of technologies for the fabrication of nanomaterials, which then serve many different economic sectors.

Novel Materials in the Environment: the case of nanotechnology, Royal Commission on Envir Pollution, Nov 2008



Learning outcomes

* A knowledge of the sources, both natural and man-made, and categorisation of nanoparticles
* An understanding of the importance of agglomeration and the settling of particles
* An understanding of the effects of nanoparticles on the respiratory tract
* An understanding of the environmental considerations that must be addressed when considering a new product and its life cycle
* An understanding of the roles, types and processes of regulation
* A knowledge of the current regulatory landscapes in the UK, Europe and the US

Small particles have a large surface area/unit mass.
The surface may be very chemically reactive or catalytic.
Properties change as the particle size is reduced.
The mechanism of uptake of particles by the body is relatively unknown.




Traces of metals in volcanic nanoparticles = Dr Tamsin Mather & Dr David Pyle, Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford, lead a multiaspects new research on volcanic nanoparticles, and appearances of trace metals such as mercury close to the source. They are working on how to link nanoparticles to the source! Thus nanoparticles entering eco-systems or sea waters are under scrutiny!





"Peroxidases (enzymes that catalyse oxidation reactions) are important in the treatment of waste water for oxidizing organic substances. Whereas iron oxide nanoparticles have typically been linked with horseradish peroxidase (a natural catalyst) to perform immunoassays that use peroxidase-sensitive dyes, the recent finding suggests that the nanoparticles can essentially be “self-sufficient” catalysts. The study ruled out the possibility that the catalytic properties come from iron ions that have leached out of the nanoparticle. The group's results add to a growing list of nanomaterials possessing catalytic properties that are absent in the bulk."

Manuel Perez J, 2007, Iron oxide nanoparticles: Hidden talent, Nature Nanotechnology 2, 535-536




Irregularities


- One Swiss study discovered that up to 6% percent by weight of the particles entered the sewage works effluent – while they had the concentration at a very high point, and assumed concentration is lower in real time scenarios, and concluded that agglomeration will be further reduced? (1)
(1) Stark WJ. Removal of Oxide Nanoparticles in a Model Wastewater Treatment Plant: Influence of Agglomeration and Surfactants on Clearing Efficiency. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008

- The prospective cohort study reported by Bates et al reiterated the message that adverse reactions to drugs are common, and identified 247 adverse drug "events" in a study population of 4031 admissions (6.1%). (2)

- the CDC compiles rates of risk from disease vs. risk from vaccination: Pneumonia: 6 in 100
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/6mishome.htm#Diseaseshadalready

- The electronic structure, equation of state and phase stability of platinum aluminides and magnesium-lithium alloys are being predicted using first principles density functional theory.(3)
(3)First principle studies of intermetallics, 2006
H.R. Chauke*, M. Phasha*, Professor P.E. Ngoepe*, Dr. R. Drautz, Dr. D. Nguyen Manh**, Professor D.G. Pettifor

- Density Functional tight binding (DFTB) methods are being used to calculate the potential energy surface (PES) and to identify energetically preferred substitutional sites for the inclusion of experimentally relevant impurities and defects. In addition to this the affect of the surface, edge and corner impurities on the distribution of charge is also under investigation; as is the shape dependence of the distribution of charge in undoped diamond nanoparticles of different sizes. (4)
(4) Location and Coordination of Impurities and Defects in Nanocrystalline Diamond, Dr. M. Sternberg*, Dr. A.S. Barnard http://www.materials.ox.ac.uk/uploads/file/research/RIP2006.pdf