Ultrafine particles in the environment

Yesterday I logged into a webinar run by the instrument manufacturer, TSI, on “Exposure to Ultrafine Particles- Indoor, Outdoor and In-Vehicle Concentrations: Sources, and Particle Dynamics”, presented by Dr Lance Wallace a leading researcher in the measurement of ultrafine particles. The potential risks to health from sub-micron ultrafine particles has been a high profile occupational

Frustrated phagocytes and the fibre paradigm

These were a couple of phrases from Rosemary Gibson’s presentation during the nanotechnology workshop during the recent BOHS Conference. The fibre paradigm sets out the basis for the harmful effects caused by resistant fibres such as asbestos.  It states that fibres will damage the lung if they are thin enough to enter the lungs longer

BOHS Conference workshop on nanotechnology

In her Keynote address to the 2011 BOHS Conference, the Chair of the HSE, Judith Hackitt, mentioned nanotechnology as one of the “emerging issues” that HSE will continue to give priority to despite the cutbacks in its budget. Nanotechnology has been a high profile issue for HSE for a number of years as the production

BOHS Conference – Nanotechnology

I’ve allocated this week for catching up on reports, but I’ve also spent a bit of time reading through the notes I made at BOHS Conference in Harrogate a few weeks ago. One of the sessions I attended was devoted to nanotechnology.  This is a fast developing area, although as it is generally still very

Nanoparticles

I came across the following video slideshow by Andrew Maynard (2020science.org), a researcher in nanotechnology. It’s a nice, gentle introduction to nanoparticles and their properties. The key points he makes about these new materials are * the particles are small * they are “strange” – they don’t behave how you might expect and the properties