11-02/03 :: February / March 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

Safety data sheet (SDS): Guidelines for synthetic nanomaterials: The present guidelines represent an initial consolidated version containing additions, suggestions and corrections from various people representing associations, companies and the field of science. Feedback of any kind is very much welcome and can be submitted to the above menti- oned e-mail address. The document will be further revised throughout next year and is scheduled to be replaced by an updated version at the end of 2011.

http://www.seco.admin.ch/themen/00385/02071/in-

dex.html?lang=de&download=NHzLpZeg7t,lnp6I0N TU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCFeoN_ fWym162epYbg2c_JjKbNoKSn6A--

A research team at the Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne (Bacterial Chemistry Laboratory, CNRS, Marseille) has demonstrated that carbon dioxide (CO2

http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/1826.htm ) plays a role in the formation of oxida-

tive damage in vivo. Under conditions of oxidative stress, certain types of damage (cell death, some DNA lesions, mutation frequency, etc.) affecting the model organism Escherichia coli tend to increase depending on the level of atmospheric CO2 CO2 levels studied range from 40 ppm to the cur-

. The

rent projections for 2100 (1,000 ppm). The results indicate that the predicted increase in atmospheric CO2

should have a direct effect on living organisms.

Benjamin Ezraty, Maïalène Chabalier, Adrien Ducret, Eti- enne Maisonneuve & Sam Dukan: CO2

exacerbates oxy-

gen toxicity, In: EMBO Reports, AOP, February 25, 2011, DOI:10.1038/embor.2011.7: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/embor.2011.7

Nanomaterials offer enormous potential in construction applications from structural strength enhancement and energy conservation to antimi- crobial properties and self-cleaning surfaces. Before these properties can be taken advantage of though, the possible environmental and health impacts of these nanomaterials must be carefully examined.

A recent paper published in ACS Nano reviews state-of-the-art applications of manufactured nanomaterials used in construction, suggests likely environmental release scenarios, and summarizes potential adverse biological and toxicological effects and their mitigation. Shaily Mahendra, as- sistant professor of civil and environmental enginee- ring at UCLA‘s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, collaborated on the research with Pedro Alvarez, a professor of civil and envi- ronmental engineering at Rice University, USA.

The paper is among the top twenty most down- loaded articles at ACS Nano over the past twelve

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The CNRS office that opened in New Delhi on Fe- bruary 1, 2011 will strengthen the French research center‘s already extensive cooperation with India and assist in the creation of new joint research faci- lities. In Malta, the CNRS office that is set to open on March 1, 2011 will promote cooperation among researchers in all the Mediterranean countries. And in Pretoria, the new joint CNRS-IRD office, which opened on January 10 of this year, will pursue the operations initiated by the former CNRS office in Johannesburg.