Environmental risks of nanoparticles unknown
Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 11:55AM 
Source: nasaimages.org
Nanoparticles like many other commonly used chemical and materials make our products stronger, better, and more effective. However, also like many commony used materials, little is know about their effect on human health and the environment.
...Manufactured silver nanoparticles, for example, are used in socks to combat bacteria and fungi. Nanoparticles can be used to carry antibodies, drugs or other substances to parts of the body, according to the National Cancer Institute. Contaminants in soil and groundwater can be removed by iron nanoparticles.
But scientists are just beginning to learn about the health and environmental risks of nanoparticles, and studies are planned by experts in New Jersey and elsewhere, a leading expert said. And the federal government is still developing regulations to control nanoparticles.
"The problem is that all this stuff's already out there," said Paul Lioy of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway.
Not much is known about what people are exposed to and what happens when nanoparticles get into one's system, according to Lioy, director of the Exposure Measurement and Assessment Division at the institute. And researchers are only beginning to understand what happens to nanoparticles when they get into the environment after people use them, he said...