Tiny particles so small that at least a million of them can fit on a pinhead are keeping your bras, panties, socks and children's clothing smelling sweet. But are these silver nanoparticles safe?
An Environmental Protection Agency science panel opened a four-day hearing Tuesday in Washington, examining the hazards associated with nanosilver, an odor-fighting, bacteria-killing material used in thousands of clothing items.
And Swiss scientists this week will release what they say is the first comprehensive study on the escape of silver nanoparticles from clothing to rivers, streams and lakes, often major sources of drinking water.
The Swiss study is being published this week in the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology. In it, scientists measured the nanosilver particles released from a variety of brands of socks made from different textiles. Most of the amounts released in the wash were relatively large, they found, and as much as 35 percent of the total silver came out of the fabrics during the first wash.
Most filters in water treatment plants are unable to screen out the nano-sized particles of silver, which may be no thicker than 1/50,000th the width of a human hair.
"These results have important implications for the risk assessment of silver textiles and also for environmental fate studies of nanosilver," said Dr. Bernd Nowack and his colleagues from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research.
Scientists have shown that silver in many forms has great medicinal effects, including being toxic to most bacteria, viruses and fungi.
http://www.sphere.com/2009/11/04/experts-explore-risks-of-nanotechnology-in-our-clothes/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
