In 2019, Ikea announced it had developed curtains that it claimed could break down common indoor air pollutants. The secret, it said, was the fabrics special coating. What if we could use textiles to clean the air? asked Ikeas product developer, Mauricio Affonso, in a promotional video for the Gunrid curtains.
After explaining that the coating was a photocatalyst (similar to photosynthesis, found in nature), Affonso is shown gazing up at the gauzy curtains while uplifting music plays. Its amazing to work on something that can give people the opportunity to live a healthier life at home.
Puzzled by these claims how could a mineral coating clean the air? Avicenn, a French environmental nonprofit organisation, investigated. Independent laboratory tests of the Gunrid textile reported that samples contained tiny particles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) a substance not normally toxic but which can be possibly carcinogenic if inhaled, and potentially in other forms which supposedly gives self-cleaning properties to things such as paint and windows when exposed to sunlight.
These tiny particles, or nanoparticles, are at the forefront of materials science. Nanoparticles come in all shapes spheres, cubes, fibres or sheets but the crucial thing is their size: they are smaller than 100 nanometres (a human hair is approximately 80,000nm thick).
Many nanoparticles exist in nature. Nano-hairs make a geckos feet sticky, and nano-proteins make a spiders silk strong. But they can be manufactured, and because they are so small, they have special properties that make them attractive across a range of endeavours not just to companies such as Ikea. In medicine, they can transport cancer drugs directly into tumour cells, and nanosilver is used to coat medical breathing tubes and bandages. Nanos could direct pesticides to parts of a plant, or release nutrients from fertilisers in a more controlled manner.
They also have more mundane uses. Synthetic nanos are added to cosmetics and food. Nanosilver is used in textiles, where it is claimed to give antibacterial properties to plasters, gym leggings, yoga mats and period pants.
But scientists such as those at Avicenn are concerned that when these household items get washed, recycled or thrown away, synthetic nanos are released into the environment making their way into the soil and sea in ways that are still not understood. Some scientists believe nanoparticles could pose an even greater threat than microplastics.
Synthetic nano particles of plastic have been found in the ocean and in ice on both poles. Nanoparticles from socks and sunscreen have been found to pollute water, and certain nanos have been shown to negatively affect marine wildlife including fish and crustaceans. As with antibiotics, resistance to antimicrobial nanosilver can develop silver-tolerant soil bacteria have now been found.
Little is known even about where nanoparticles are, let alone their effects on the environment. As they are so tiny, most experiments are conducted in labs, and it can be hard to pin down where they are applied.
The main problem with these substances is that we cannot measure them we know they are there but theyre so tiny theyre difficult to detect, which is why you dont hear as much about them, says Nick Voulvoulis, professor of environmental technology at Imperial College London.
He worries about the uncontrolled use of nanos in consumer products. If nanos are used properly in applications that are useful or beneficial, thats justified, but if they are used anywhere and everywhere because they have certain properties, thats crazy.
Synthetic nanoparticles are not inherently harmful. Like their natural cousins, many are metal-based, but they can be made of any substance. Crucially, unlike chemical compounds, they cannot be dissolved. Their tiny size gives them, paradoxically, an enormous surface area, which makes them behave differently to non-nano versions of the same material. It can make them more mobile, more reactive and potentially more toxic, depending on shape, size, type, how a substance is released into the environment and its concentration.
And released into the environment they are, on a massive scale. According to Avicenn, the release of nanos is most likely during manufacture or disposal, but it can also happen when items are washed which is known to occur with fabrics containing nanosilver. Sewage systems cannot trap them and they end up in the ocean: the OECD says even advanced wastewater-treatment plants cannot deal with nanoparticles.
From a health perspective, inhalation is the most harmful route of exposure to nanos such as TiO2 for factory workers and consumers. Avicenns tests concluded that the average particle size was 4.9nm, and all 300 particles analysed were below the official nano threshold of 100nm.
Ikea insisted its own tests showed the TiO2 particles were properly bound to the fabric and pose no risk to customers, and said it took workers safety extremely seriously. The firm has not referred to them as nanoparticles, and said that once integrated into textile surfaces there was no good standard method to measure the particle size distribution of a material, acknowledging that EU definitions of nanomaterials were under review.
We recognise that the tests and measurements of nano-particles are complex, especially for materials containing particles that tend to form agglomerates, it said.
As for Ikeas curtains shedding TiO2 nanoparticles when washed or discarded, Ikea said it was confident that the treatment is properly bound to the fabric, and therefore we do not see a risk of inhaling the treatment, but acknowledged that as with any textile, parts of the textile can come off during use or washing.
Many nanos do not persist for long in the environment. However, because they are consistently being discharged, levels remain fairly constant. Nanos are pseudo-persistent because they degrade quite quickly but they keep entering the environment, Voulvoulis says.
His main concern is whether nanos become carriers for other compounds, a subject of scientific debate. In 2009, Spanish scientists suggested nanos could bind to and transport toxic pollutants, and possibly be toxic themselves by generating reactive free radicals. If other toxic pollutants latch on to nanos surfaces, they argued, marine plants and animals could absorb them more easily.
Other scientists suggest the opposite: that organic matter in sewage coat nanoparticles, rendering them less active. And others fear nanos could trigger toxic cocktail effects making them more harmful in combination than individual substances would be separately.
So far, synthetic nanomaterials are relatively dispersed in the sea, and unlikely to significantly affect marine animals, says Dr Tobias Lammel of Gothenburg University, who has studied copper nanos. But he warns: Its possible that the concentration of some manufactured nanomaterials in the marine environment will increase It is important to keep an eye on this.
Given the huge question marks, Avicenn wants more stringent regulations on nanos, and more caution in product design. Companies are eager to sell innovative and fancy products, but they must thoroughly assess their benefits-risks balance at each step of the life-cycle of the products, says Mathilde Detcheverry, Avicenns policy manager.
From August, the EU will ban use of TiO2 nanos in food (where it is called E171) and the European Commission recently announced that 12 nanomaterials would soon be prohibited in cosmetics.
Detcheverry says: As scientific knowledge about the environmental and health impacts of engineered nanos such as silver and titanium dioxide advances, we need to make sure nanos are only allowed for specific and essential uses in order to minimise any adverse effects at the source and [ensure they are] not released uncontrollably.
Two years after the release of Ikeas Gunrid curtains, Avicenn tried to buy more for further tests, but they had been withdrawn from sale.
Ikea told the Guardian that Gunrid remained safe to use as a traditional curtain but it was withdrawn because the functionality was not as effective as expected. If thats true for example, that despite TiO2 having proven photocatalytic properties and being used in self-cleaning and air-purifying products, its efficacy on curtains could be localised and not powerful then at the very least Ikeas experience suggests nanoparticles benefits may not outweigh the potential and frequently unknown risks, Detcheverry says.
Nanoparticles are often promoted as silver bullets against pollution or bacteria, she says, but we must make sure that the cure is not worse than the disease.
Gunrid was just one product of many thousands that use nanoparticles. As Ikeas Affonso says in the video: Whats so great about Gunrid is that this technology could be applied to any textile.
This article was amended on 26 April 2022 to correct the spelling of Gothenburg.
More here:
Nano state: tiny and now everywhere, how big a problem are nanoparticles? - The Guardian
- Nano Medicine: Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages - BioTechnology Notes - December 18th, 2022
- www.the-scientist.com - December 18th, 2022
- Applications of Nanotechnology - National Nanotechnology Initiative - December 18th, 2022
- Nanotechnology Timeline | National Nanotechnology Initiative - October 29th, 2022
- Nano based drug delivery systems: recent developments and future ... - October 21st, 2022
- The Application of Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: A Review - Cureus - September 16th, 2022
- 'Glass bubble' nanocarrier boosts effects of combination therapy for pancreatic cancer - UCLA Newsroom - September 16th, 2022
- International Conference (Sep. 15-17) on Advances in Molecular Diagnostics and Precision Medicine (AMDP-2022.. - ETHealthWorld - September 16th, 2022
- Reebok Nano X2 Adventure Review: A Wild Way to Log Your Workouts - Gear Patrol - August 30th, 2022
- PhD within Particle Engineering job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU | 306487 - Times Higher Education - August 30th, 2022
- Nanoparticles' Role in Eliminating Cancer Cells - MedTech Outlook - August 22nd, 2022
- The first female astronaut from a North African nation will be a Tunisian military aviator - Atalayar - August 22nd, 2022
- Fast and noninvasive electronic nose for sniffing out COVID-19 based on exhaled breath-print recognition | npj Digital Medicine - Nature.com - August 22nd, 2022
- Reebok's Nano X2 Adventure Helps You Take Your Workouts Anywhere - Gear Patrol - August 14th, 2022
- How Houston's nonprofit funds early research that leads to breakthroughs like the COVID vaccine - Houston Chronicle - August 14th, 2022
- Ponce Therapeutics Executes Worldwide Exclusive License to Speratum Biopharma's Nano-in and No-Pass Mimic Nanoparticle Technologies in Anti-Aging and... - July 27th, 2022
- Nanorobots Market to close to USD 19576.43 million with CAGR of 12.23% during the forecast period to 2029 - Digital Journal - July 27th, 2022
- Aviceda Therapeutics Announces Key Opinion Leader in Ophthalmology Drug Development Tarek S. Hassan, MD to Join Management Team as Chief Development... - July 27th, 2022
- Second Sight Medical Products Announces Year Four NIH Funding of its Orion Study - Business Wire - July 19th, 2022
- Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering to Offer New "Dual MBA/Executive MS in Engineering and Applied Science" Program - Yahoo... - July 19th, 2022
- Internet of Nano Things Market is Poised to Grow at a CAGR of 24.12% during the Forecast Period of 2022-2031 - Digital Journal - July 11th, 2022
- Notable Thermal and Mechanical Properties of New Hybrid Nanostructures - AZoM - July 11th, 2022
- Eggshell and bioceramics: Break an egg to fix a tooth or two - BusinessLine - July 11th, 2022
- Nanomedicine in Central Nervous System Injury and Repair Market Share, Regional Growth Analysis, Upcoming Trends, Growth Factors and Leading... - July 11th, 2022
- Nanorobotics Market 2022 Research Report Analysis from Perspective of Segmentation and Industry Growth 2030 Designer Women - Designer Women - July 11th, 2022
- Artificial Intelligence in Medical Diagnostics Market Worth $9.38 Billion by 2029 - Exclusive Report by Meticulous Research - GlobeNewswire - July 11th, 2022
- $2.38M to test nano-engineered brain cancer treatment in mice - University of Michigan News - June 22nd, 2022
- New Amrita Hospital is all set to open in Faridabad in August this year; 2,400-bed facility will become Indias biggest private hospital - The... - June 22nd, 2022
- Global Advanced Functional Materials Market To Be Driven By The Surging Demand From Medical Sector In The Forecast Period Of 2021-2026 Designer Women... - June 22nd, 2022
- An effective nano drug delivery and combination therapy for the treatment of Tuberculosis | Scientific Reports - Nature.com - June 13th, 2022
- Nanotechnology is poised to shape the future of Healthcare - ETHealthWorld - June 4th, 2022
- New Silence ALS Initiative is Giving Hope to Nano-Rare Patients - BioSpace - June 4th, 2022
- Nanotechnology in the Global Medical Applications Market 2022, Featuring Profiles of Abbott, Abraxis Bioscience, Elan, Orthovita, EyePoint... - May 15th, 2022
- Nanomedicine Market to 2030 Insights and Forecast with Impact of COVID-19 | Abbott Laboratories, DiaSorin S.p.A, Invitae Corporation, Mallinckrodt... - May 2nd, 2022
- Cancer and Nanotechnology - National Cancer Institute - April 19th, 2022
- Nanobots/Nanorobots Market Overview, Merger and Acquisitions , Drivers, Restraints and Industry Forecast By 2028 - Digital Journal - April 19th, 2022
- ERDC researchers analyze resilience in nanotechnology supply chains - erdc.usace.army.mil - April 19th, 2022
- Nano Products Online Store | Nanoproducts, Nanoparticles ... - April 6th, 2022
- The Conrad Prebys Foundation to Support the Discovery and Development of Personalized ASO Medicines for Nano-rare Patients - Business Wire - March 25th, 2022
- Space the next frontier for cancer treatment? - Australian Jewish News - March 25th, 2022
- ViaCyte Strengthens Management Team with Appointment of Alyssa Levin as Chief Financial Officer and Addition of Lisa Porter, MD, to the Board of... - January 20th, 2022
- Surface Modification and Size Contribute to Nanoplastic Toxicity - AZoNano - January 20th, 2022
- Frontiers | Nanomedicine: Principles, Properties, and ... - January 5th, 2022
- Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are ... - January 5th, 2022
- Stem Cell Mimicking Nanoencapsulation for Targeting Arthrit | IJN - Dove Medical Press - January 5th, 2022
- 2009 show based on conspiracy theories is shared as proof of WHO working on COVID-19 vaccines to create permanent sterility - Factly - January 5th, 2022
- How to Improve Infectious Diseases with Nanotechnology - CIO Applications - January 5th, 2022
- Biodistribution of sphingolipid nanoemulsions with 68Ga | IJN - Dove Medical Press - August 31st, 2021
- Matrix Meats Adds to Team as Interest in Cultivated Meat Grows - PRNewswire - July 21st, 2021
- Nanomedicine in Central Nervous System Injury and Repair Market Report- Trends Key Programs Analysis and Competitive Landscape Analysis The Manomet... - June 23rd, 2021
- Nanomedicine is transforming healthcare innovation - Korea IT Times - June 6th, 2021
- The Future of Cancer Treatment Using Nanotechnology - AZoNano - June 6th, 2021
- Thomas Jefferson Awards Highlight Research and Service to the University - UVA Today - June 6th, 2021
- Global Nanobots Market 2020 | Research Report Covers | (COVID-19 Analysis) | Industry Research, Drivers, Top Trends | Global Analysis And Forecast to... - October 31st, 2020
- Nanox Signs With Ambra Health to Enable Image Access and Transfer with US Hospitals and Medical imaging Providers - BioSpace - October 31st, 2020
- Global Nano Therapy Market- Industry Analysis and Forecast (2020-2027) - Stock Market Vista - October 29th, 2020
- What is Nanoscience? | Outlook and How to Invest | INN - Investing News Network - September 23rd, 2020
- Interview: The NDB team on its revolutionary nano-diamond batteries - New Atlas - August 29th, 2020
- Opportunities in the World Nanotechnology Market to 2025 - Application of Nanotechnology in Wastewater Treatment and Enhanced Renewable Energy Driving... - August 12th, 2020
- Cellics Therapeutics Announces the Publication of Cellular Nanosponges Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity in Nano Letters - BioSpace - June 17th, 2020
- Nanocellulose Market to Reach USD 1.08 Billion by 2027 | CAGR:20.4% | Reports And Data - PRNewswire - June 17th, 2020
- Coronavirus threat to global Healthcare Nanotechnology (Nanomedicine) Market 2020 Industry Share, Size, Consumption, Growth, Top Manufacturers, Type... - June 15th, 2020
- Kanazawa University Research: Cell Removal as the Result of a Mechanical Instability - PR Newswire UK - June 15th, 2020
- Impact of Covid-19 on Nano Chemotherapy Market is Expected to Grow at an active CAGR by Forecast to 2026 | Top Players Dell Wyse, IBM, Microsoft -... - June 15th, 2020
- Evergreen Medical Acupuncture is now offering its own supplement and herbal products, Dr. Ficks Functional Farmacy! - TippNews DAILY - June 10th, 2020
- Inolife is going to revolutionize how we take our medicine - BNNBloomberg.ca - May 24th, 2020
- Recent Progress and Future Directions: The Nano-Drug Delivery System f | IJN - Dove Medical Press - May 10th, 2020
- The future of medicine - Switzer Financial News - May 10th, 2020
- All your questions about how to wear a face mask -- answered - Action News Now - April 26th, 2020
- Edited Transcript of NANO earnings conference call or presentation 6-Feb-20 9:30pm GMT - Yahoo Finance - February 11th, 2020
- Kanazawa University Research: Combined Drug Treatment for Lung Cancer and Secondary Tumors - Yahoo Finance - February 11th, 2020
- Immix Doses First Patient in USA in its Phase 1b/2a Trial in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors - BioSpace - February 11th, 2020
- Nano Medicine: Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages - February 6th, 2020
- The Future Of Nano Medicine - February 6th, 2020
- VVUS Stock Jumps 70% on FDA Nod for New Formulation of Pancreaze - MicroSmallCap - February 6th, 2020
- Is the Lieber Arrest Linked to Military Brain Research and China? - Bryen's Blog - February 6th, 2020
- A Chelate-Free Nano-Platform for Incorporation of Diagnostic and Thera | IJN - Dove Medical Press - January 10th, 2020
- Examine Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment Market expected to reach US$ 720 mn by 2026 - WhaTech Technology and Markets News - January 10th, 2020
- Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment Market Combining Therapies - Communal News - January 10th, 2020
- Our top 20 features of 2019 - COVER - January 5th, 2020