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Lab research suggests tiny engineered materials can cause genetic mutations
Graphic showing that increasing exposure to cupric oxide bulk particles and nanoparticles by radish plants also increases the impact on growth, with nanoparticles showing the largest impact. PHOTO COURTESY H. WANG/EPA.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Nanoparticles can build up in plants and cause genetic mutations, according to researchers with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who tested ultrafine cupric oxide particles on radishes and grasses in a laboratory setting.
The material is used in the manufacture of semiconductors, as a pigment and as a catalyst in the production of Rayon, among other uses.
“To our knowledge, this is first evidence that there could be a ‘nano-based effect’ for cupric oxide in the environment where size plays a role in the increased generation and accumulation of numerous mutagenic DNA lesions in plants,” said National Institute of Standards chemist Bryant C. Nelson. (more…)
Filed under: Environment | Tagged: Copper(II) oxide, Environment, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, National Institute of Standards and Technology | Leave a Comment »
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