The publication of a toxicology study entitled Carbon nanotubes introduced into the abdominal cavity of mice show asbestos like pathogenicity in a pilot study  by Nature Nanotechnology Advanced Online Publications has received widespread media attention.

A BBC News article states that ‘the nanotechnology industry welcomed the findings but cautioned against drawing conclusions from a single study.’ ‘Until now we have not had two studies that showed the same result,’ Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Director of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) told BBC News.

In the Washington Post, the article covering the study featured comments from addition experts, such as that of Brooke Mossman, 'a professor who heads the University of Vermont's environmental pathology program, [who] said she was not persuaded by the experiment, because no one knows whether the doses used reflect realistic conditions and because the nanotubes were injected instead of inhaled.'

Follow these links to download the full paper (abstract only; full paper available to subscribers only), read the comments posted on the Nature News website, read the full BBC article, or read the full Washington Post article.

• Full Meeting Note of the Press Briefing, held at the Science Media Centre (20^th May 2008, London)
• Interim Regulation passed by the UK Government (DEFRA, Environment Agency) on the 19th May 2008.

The study was published only two months after the same journal published a paper entitled A pilot toxicology study of single-walled carbon nanotubes in a small sample of mice, which suggests that carbon nanotubes might be safe, but calls for caution.

Follow these links to download the News & Views article, or to download the full paper (abstract only; full paper available to subscribers only).