Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Deaths, lung damage linked to nanoparticles in China
Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:27pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Tan Ee Lyn
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Seven young Chinese women suffered permanent lung damage and two of them died after working for months without proper protection in a paint factory using nanoparticles, Chinese researchers reported on Wednesday.
They said the study is the first to document health effects of nanotechnology in humans, although animal studies in the past have shown nanoparticles could damage the lungs of rats.
"These cases arouse concern that long term exposure to nanoparticles without protective measures may be related to serious damage to human lungs," Yuguo Song from the occupational disease and clinical toxicology department at Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing wrote in the European Respiratory Journal.
But a U.S. government expert said the study was more a demonstration of industrial hazards than any evidence that nanoparticles pose more of a risk than other chemicals.
Nanotechnology is an important industry. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (yard) and nanoparticles measure between 1 to 100 nanometers.
It is used in products like sporting goods, tires, electronics, cosmetics and surface coatings and has a projected annual market of around $1 trillion by 2015.
"Their tiny diameter means that they can penetrate the body's natural barriers, particularly through contact with damaged skin or by inhalation or ingestion," Song and colleagues wrote.
They said the seven women had worked for between five to 13 months in a factory spraying paint on polystyrene boards before they developed breathing difficulties and rashes on their faces and arms.
The women breathed in fumes and smoke that contained nanoparticles while working in the factory, Song said.
PARTICLES AND FLUID
According to the paper, doctors found the women had excess fluids in the cavities surrounding their lungs and hearts, conditions that impair breathing and heart function.
Their lung tissues and fluids contained nanoparticles about 30 nanometers in diameter -- matching particles that health protection officials later found in materials used in the factory where the women worked.
Two of the women died within two years of working in the factory. The condition of the other five women has not improved even though they are no longer handling such materials.
It is impossible to remove nanoparticles once they penetrate lung cells, wrote Song.
Allen Chan, a chemical pathologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong not connected to the study, said the findings were significant. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Asustek aims to ship 1 million smartphones in 2010
Also On Reuters
Migrant children's risky trips to the U.S. documented in film
Video
Video: Investing in small business
Tweeting airline rage: Loud, fast and public
More Technology News
Frustrated tweets new headache for airlines
Label hunts hackers who stole Lewis/Timberlake song
Web tools help protect human rights activists
Diddy seeks new stars of Facebook generation
Microsoft files to stay Word injunction
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Canadian eastern provinces in Bill's path
Swiss to reveal UBS accounts to settle U.S. tax row
Honey, I cheated, and blah blah blah...
Views unchanged on Obama's healthcare plans: poll
Baby boomers still getting high
Buffett says unchecked U.S. debt threatens economy: report
Frustrated tweets new headache for airlines
Building block of life found on comet
PlayStation 3 slims down in size, price
Hijackers threatened to blow up mystery ship: reports
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Drivers get virtual "guardian angel"
Rally drivers hits horse at speed
Wildfire rages in Greece.
Lockerbie bomber drops appeal
Thai elephant given prosthetic leg
Gunmen seize Kabul building
More violence, deaths in Mexico
Scores dead in Baghdad blasts
Britons facing jail for Brazil fraud
Tweeting to God in Israel
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.