Andre Nel on Nanotechnology in Humans & the Environment
Fast Moving Front Commentary, September 2010
Being able to integrate the injury mechanisms and disease profiles of ultrafine particles into the wider epidemiology of air pollution particles, we were able to access the lessons learned from studying air pollution particles to apply that knowledge to the burgeoning field of possible engineered nanoparticle health effects. This allowed us to write a review article that addressed the wider issue of nanomaterial safety, both from the perspective of what was learned from studying ambient ultrafines as well as the possibility that the novel properties of engineered nanomaterials could introduce new hazards.
The major challenge that we faced since writing this paper was to establish a multidisciplinary group of scientists could bring together the vision that we developed for starting a new scientific enterprise capable of knowledge generation and making predictions about nanomaterial hazards and the safe implementation of nanotechnology.
First, we established a UC Nanotoxicology Research and Training program that was funded from the UC President's office under the UC Toxic Substances Research and Training Program (UC TSRTP). This graduate program allowed us to develop of a capstone course in nanosafety and commencing graduate-level research activities in the laboratories of participating faculty members at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB).
This program allowed us to initiate a basic program that fostered interaction between nanomaterial scientists, chemists, toxicologists, engineers, environmental scientists, and biologists. This program allowed us to establish new collaborations and scientific approaches for studying the impact of engineered nanomaterials at different biological interphases, including humans and the environment.
"I foresee our research developing into an integrated approach that utilizes the synthesis and characterization of compositional and combinatorial nanomaterial libraries to understand how their unique properties translate to biological interactions at the molecular, cellular, organism and in vivo level, including those interactions at the nano-bio interface that could lead to hazard generation..."
We developed enough cohesiveness and interaction to successfully compete for the Center of the Environmental Impact of Nanotechnology that was awarded by NSF and EPA in 2008. The award of this $24 million Center allowed us to expand the scope of our activities with the addition of considerable further expertise to comprehensively address the issue of nanosafety in the environment.
In addition, the expanded program allowed us to leverage the funding to further expand the scope of our activities, including studying the potential hazardous effects of nanomaterials humans, including occupational safety and providing input into regulatory decision-making.
The UC CEIN currently employs more than a hundred members, including faculty from four UC campuses as well as other leading institutions nationally and internationally, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff. This has allowed us to develop an integrated scientific platform for studying nanomaterials safety as well a safe implementation of this technology in the environment. The range of activities involved in UC CEIN is described in the question below.
Where do you see your research leading in the future?
I foresee our research developing into an integrated approach that utilizes the synthesis and characterization of compositional and combinatorial nanomaterial libraries to understand how their unique properties translate to biological interactions at the molecular, cellular, organism, and in vivo levels, including developing an understanding of those interactions that could lead to hazard generation at the nano-bio interface.
The scientific activities being undertaken in the UC CEIN also makes use of screening of mammalian cells, bacteria, yeast, embryos, and lower-level environmental life forms to develop a mechanistic understanding of bio-physicochemical interactions may lead to hazard generation. Some of the studies are being performed through high-throughput screening technology that allows large-volume data generation for which we aim to develop structure-activity relationships that could help to promote our understanding of events at the nano-bio interface.
The biological predictions coming from these studies are used for studying in vivo outcomes in more complicated life forms such as grazers and predators in terrestrial, freshwater, and seawater mesocosms as well as for developing animal models that can be used to understand impact on humans. This predictive toxicological model is further supplemented by the performance of fate and transport studies in different environmental media to understand nanomaterial exposure, bioaccumulation, and trophic transfer.
To integrate the high-volume data sets as well as to develop the structure-activity relationships, UC CEIN also makes use of engineering and computer science to develop computer-assisted decision-making and competition of biology. The Center also has faculty members who are experts in risk perception and policy development, which are essential in regulatory decision making.
Finally, an important component of UC CEIN is education and outreach activities that build on the capstone course that was initially initiated in the UC toxicology program. Through our outreach activities, we inform the public, industry, and regulatory agencies about the appropriate scientific platform and decision-making tools that could be helpful for safe implementation of nanotechnology.
Do you foresee any social or political implications for your research?
Yes, there are tremendous social and political implications of our research insofar as allowing nanotechnology to be safely implemented and being accepted as an important technology for the benefit of mankind.
These considerations are important for growth of our economy and the development of novel cost-effective materials, devices, and systems that will use nanoscale functions to deliver new energy-efficient products, new electronics, improved building materials, lighter and more energy-efficient motor vehicles and aircraft, sensors and devices that provide environmental and water cleanup, improved food production, highly innovative therapeutics and diagnostics, etc.
Because of the relative lack of knowledge and the concern that these new materials could have adverse effects on humans and the environment, there is considerable societal concern that nanotechnology may introduce new hazards that we will have to address in future. Now is the opportune time to launch the research and decision-making tools to ensure safe implementation of this new scientific field.
While frustration is often expressed that nanotechnology safety concerns are not being addressed in a timely fashion, there has to be considerations that this technology is a relatively new science and that a lot needs to be learned about the new materials, their properties, and biological interactions before we can perform evidenced-based decision-making.
With the advent of nanotechnology at the same time as global warming and sustainability have become major issues, appropriate attention to the safe introduction of nanotechnology will likely serve as a demonstration of how to foster sustainable development. Not only is nanotechnology capable of delivering a lot of new products that can help to address some of the problems leading to climate change, but this technology is so pervasive that it can assist a number of disruptive technologies in developing sustainability.
Andre Nel
Chief and Founder of the Division of NanoMedicine
Department of Medicine and the Jonsson Cancer Center
UCLASchoolof Medicine
Los Angeles, CA, USA
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- Listen to a ScienceWatch.com podcast with Andre Nel in which he discusses the Fast Moving Front paper featured in this September 2010 commentary.
KEYWORDS: INDUCE OXIDATIVE STRESS; WALL CARBON NANOTUBES; ULTRAFINE PARTICLES; PULMONARY TOXICITY; INHALED ULTRAFINE; AIR-POLLUTION; NANOTOXICOLOGY; TRANSLOCATION; NANOPARTICLES; NANOMATERIALS.