Dear Group
After some further delving I have come upon two more recent papers on graphene toxicity which practitioners and policy makers may be interested in.
"Classification Framework for Graphene-Based Materials" by Peter Wick (et al) (pub. Angewandte Essays 0.1002/anie.201403335) which highlights the numerous and as yet little understood forms, structures and properties of the graphene materials, and for the need to understand each before its toxicology can be fully assessed.
"The current graphene safety landscape – a literature mining exercise" by Cyrill Bussy (et al) (pub Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 6432) which describes a literature review of 34 in-vivo assessment studies and found that highest risk to graphene based material (GBM) exposure was to the pulmonary system with lungs showing the highest accumulation of GBMs larger than 100 nm in (reported) lateral dimension, and the site of most reported adverse effects, regardless of administration route. The quality of dispersion and the surface functionalisation were also identified as key factors.
Both reports recommended the urgent need for more research in this area, combined with improvements in the methodologies for the characterisation of bulk GBMs and their administered dispersions.
Readers may also be aware of a issues statement to the EU Position Statement on emerging and newly identified health risks to be drawn to the attention of the European Commission (section 4.10) which concluded thatReviews suggest that graphene nanomaterials could exert a considerable toxicity and that considerable emission of graphene from electronic devices and composites are possible in the future. It is also suggested that graphene is both persistent and hydrophobic. Although these results indicate that graphene may cause adverse environmental and health effects, the results foremost show that there are many risk related knowledge gaps to be filled.
Clearly an enormous amount of work is required to assess the potential health and environmental impacts of graphene in the environment (and in its production, use and waste streams) to avoid putting the proverbial "cart before the horse”.
"Graphene - the new asbestos"....?
Best wishes to all, David
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