Nanoparticles: A greater danger to the environment than previously thought
Thursday, November 15, 2012 - 11:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Nanoparticles are more harmful to small animals than tests have indicated to date. This has been shown in a new study of the University of Koblenz-Landau. Thus, the offspring of water fleas (Daphnia magna) exposed to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide react significantly more sensitively than the offspring of parents from a control group. This is the case even though the offspring themselves are not exposed to the nanoparticles. With the usual test methods, no effects attributable to nanoparticles were found. Until now, standard tests do not investigate the effects in the next generation.