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- Created: 16 May 2016
On May 2016, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published in Research Rounds the item “Research Explores Workplace Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes.” In which are summarized the following two published papers by NIOSH investigators with partners at Kazan State Medical University, in Kazan, Russia, exploring whether workplace exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes could pose a risk for lung disease.
- Integrated Analysis of Dysregulated ncRNA and mRNA Expression Profiles in Humans Exposed to Carbon Nanotubes: NIOSH states that workers exposed to multi-walled carbon nanotubes were significantly more likely than unexposed workers to have abnormal changes related to various cell functions including cell growth and cell death. Additional work also is needed to determine if the effects observed are specific to the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and if this information can assist in developing good risk management practices. The investigators recommended that these findings be considered when comparing the results from similar studies.
- Fibrosis Biomarkers in Workers Exposed to MWCNTs: Workers exposed to multi-walled carbon nanotubes were significantly more likely than non-exposed workers to have cellular changes that correlated with lung inflammation and scarring. NIOSH states that these findings underscore the importance of implementing strict control measures as a reasonable precaution to prevent exposure to workers handling multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The findings indicate that future studies should consider using the observed biomarkers to assess the health effects of workplace exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In addition, according to investigators, a repository of biological samples would be a valuable tool for future studies.

