PARIS – With regard to the growing use of carbon nanotubes in the industry, the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) has initiated a three-year study aiming at measuring their toxic effects on fauna and on the human being as well as anticipating a way to obtain cleaner nanotube synthesis. This study represents a 300,000 euro (about $390,000) budget.

As part of a project launched by the French National Agency for Research (ANR), the study will gather about twenty researchers from the Inter-University Center for Materials Research and Engineering (CNRS/University of Toulouse 3/INP Toulouse) and from the Hydrosystem Ecology Laboratory (CNRS/University of Toulouse 3), in collaboration with the Research Laboratory on Biomaterials and Tissue Repair (INSERM/University of Bordeaux 2) and the Macrophage Laboratory (University of Toulouse 3).

The study will have three priority themes.

The first theme concerns the environmental impact of nanotubes. In this sense, researchers will concentrate their attention on the aquatic environment, where they said they would put amphibians in contact with carbon nanotube suspensions. They will then evaluate their acute toxicity (death rate, behavioral changes) and their genotoxicity (inheritable damage).

The second part of the study is related to human health. Researchers intend to examine in vitro the interaction between carbon nanotubes and human macrophages but also to determine in vivo with mice whether the inhalation of nanotubes can cause inflammatory reactions.

Finally, the group of researchers plans to develop new processes to guarantee cleaner nanotube synthesis and to reduce gaseous discharge.