Japan to investigate health impacts of nanotechnology

The Japanese government in July 2005 established a project to determine whether nanoparticles adversely affect human
health. The project is being conducted under the auspices of the
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). About 70 researchers in nanotechnology and other fields, including toxicity, ethics and the economy, are participating in the project.

Rather than worrying about the impact of nanoparticles, more effort should be placed on the dangers of diesel particulate matter, a truly clear and present danger to public health.

Although Tatsuya Kimura of the The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo)
tried to minimize the danger of fullerenes in writing: Nanoparticles exist in the natural environment. Fullerenes, a kind of spherical nanoparticle, are created naturally by fires and thunder and have existed on Earth since the dawn of time. the author neglected to point out that the level of buckyballs in flames is miniscule and that buckyballs in fact are NOT STABLE to oxygen. Buckyballs exist only where the exposure to oxygen is eliminated. Pure buckyballs are potentially dangerous because they are reactive (not because they hung around since the dawn of time). This is another example of sloppy reporting in the nanotechnology area.