Judy Martinez Carbon nanotubes found in the lungs of Parisians
This is the first recorded case of the discovery of such structures in the human body. A promising material for the future, carbon nanotubes are not yet so easy to find in life – they remain the lot of high-tech laboratories that study their properties, develop production technologies and applications.
Their potential danger is also being investigated: it has been shown that in experimental mice they cause the same violent and dangerous reaction of the immune system as asbestos, known for its carcinogenic properties. But the mice received nanotubes artificially by injecting a solution. All the more surprising is the find of French scientists who found them in the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract of ordinary inhabitants of Paris.
The authors obtained samples from mucous membranes of 64 children living in the French capital and suffering from asthma. Nanotubes were found in every single one, and in five they were found even in macrophages, immune cells working in the mucous membrane lining the lungs. Unfortunately, scientists have not yet been able to name the exact content of carbon nanotubes or their source.
Nor were they concerned with the possible connection between nanotubes and disease. On the one hand, in theory, they are actually capable of stimulating various inflammatory processes. On the other hand, their presence may, on the contrary, be the result of illness and a weakening of the body’s ability to remove pollution. As for their origin, it may be quite natural: according to some data, nanotubes in some quantities may be present in the products of fuel combustion.
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