Children in Paris found with nanotubes in their throats: report

Scientists have come to a rather shocking conclusion after examining the lungs of children in Paris: a common manmade pollutant called nanotubes could be causing health problems.

The study determined that carbon nanotubes found in children could be responsible for their asthma problems, although more research will be need to confirm this, according to a Discovery News report.

The research team, which included scientists in Paris as well as Rice University in Houston, found that children suffering from asthma also had carbon nanotubes in their lungs that appeared to be similar to the nanotubes emitted from exhaust pipes from vehicles in Paris. That means the problem probably isn’t limited to Paris, as these nanotubes would be emitted all around the world.

The one problem with the finding is that nanotubes haven’t been linked to asthma — but that could be just due to lack of research on the issue. Some have posited that nanotubes similar to asbestos, which is a deadly material that can be inhaled into the lungs, where they cause irritation and deadly diseases such as cancer. That’s a scary possibility that will require further research and could have larger ramifications.

The study involved children between 2 and 17 years old, and 69 asthma patients were studied.

The problem is nanotubes are almost impossible to avoid. Because they are emitted from car exhaust and other polluters, scientists have found nanotubes everywhere from spider webs in India to inside ice at the poles.

But the nanotubes are usually in such a low concentration that scientists find it hard to believe it’s actually causing the asthma. The problem is that scientists don’t really know how nanotubes affect the body, but this does provide a new lead that will probably be investigated.

The study was published in EBioMedicine, and it can be found here.