Carbon Nanotubes can cause diseases characteristic of asbestos, such as mesothelioma, says André E. Nel, director of the division of nanomedicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Still, he adds, it demonstrates that carbon nanotubes “do have pathogenic potential.” What’s more, the idea that they might be inhaled “needs to be entertained,” he says, and where these long carbon nanotubes are used, “proper precautions” should be taken to ensure inhalation will be minimized.

When a nanotube exceeds 15 micrometers in length, “the macrophage can’t physically stretch itself to engulf the entire fiber,” he says, so the nanotube “ends up penetrating through the edge of the macrophage, killing it. (sciencenews.org)