The mechanical response of 15 single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) ropes under tensile load was measured. For 8 of these ropes strain data were obtained and they broke at strain values of 5.3% or lower. The force-strain data are well fit by a model that assumes the load is carried by the SWCNTs on the perimeter of each rope. This model provides an average breaking strength of SWCNTs on the perimeter of each rope; the 15 values range from 13 to 52 GPa (mean 30 GPa). Based on the same model the 8 average Young's modulus values determined range from 320 to 1470 GPa (mean 1002 GPa).

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are new materials of emerging technological importance. As SWCNT are introduced into the life cycle of commercial products, their effects on human health and environment should be addressed. We demonstrated that pharyngeal aspiration of SWCNT elicited unusual pulmonary effects in C57BL/6 mice that combined a robust but acute inflammation with early onset yet progressive fibrosis and granulomas. A dose-dependent increase in the protein, LDH, and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities in bronchoalveolar lavage were found along with accumulation of 4-hydroxynonenal (oxidative biomarker) and depletion of glutathione in lungs. An early neutrophils accumulation (day 1), followed by lymphocyte (day 3) and macrophage (day 7) influx, was accompanied by early elevation of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta; day 1) followed by fibrogenic transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 (peaked on day 7). A rapid progressive fibrosis found in mice exhibited two distinct morphologies: 1) SWCNT-induced granulomas mainly associated with hypertrophied epithelial cells surrounding SWCNT aggregates and 2) diffuse interstitial fibrosis and alveolar wall thickening likely associated with dispersed SWCNT. In vitro exposure of murine RAW 264.7 macrophages to SWCNT triggered TGF-beta1 production similarly to zymosan but generated less TNF-alpha and IL-1beta. SWCNT did not cause superoxide or NO.production, active SWCNT engulfment, or apoptosis in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Functional respiratory deficiencies and decreased bacterial clearance (Listeria monocytogenes) were found in mice treated with SWCNT. Equal doses of ultrafine carbon black particles or fine crystalline silica (SiO2) did not induce granulomas or alveolar wall thickening and caused a significantly weaker pulmonary inflammation and damage.

Nanotechnology has emerged at the forefront of science research and technology development. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are major building blocks of this new technology. They possess unique electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, with potential wide applications in the electronics, computer, aerospace, and other industries. CNTs exist in two forms, single-wall (SWCNTs) and multi-wall (MWCNTs). They are manufactured predominately by electrical arc discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition processes; these processes involve thermally stripping carbon atoms off from carbon-bearing compounds. SWCNT formation requires catalytic metals. There has been a great concern that if CNTs, which are very light, enter the working environment as suspended particulate matter (PM) of respirable sizes, they could pose an occupational inhalation exposure hazard. Very recently, MWCNTs and other carbonaceous nanoparticles in fine (<2.5 µm) PM aggregates have been found in combustion streams of methane, propane, and natural-gas flames of typical stoves; indoor and outdoor fine PM samples were reported to contain significant fractions of MWCNTs. Here we review several rodent studies in which test dusts were administered intratracheally or intrapharyngeally to assess the pulmonary toxicity of manufactured CNTs, and a few in vitro studies to assess biomarkers of toxicity released in CNT-treated skin cell cultures. The results of the rodent studies collectively showed that regardless of the process by which CNTs were synthesized and the types and amounts of metals they contained, CNTs were capable of producing inflammation, epithelioid granulomas (microscopic nodules), fibrosis, and biochemical/toxicological changes in the lungs. Comparative toxicity studies in which mice were given equal weights of test materials showed that SWCNTs were more toxic than quartz, which is considered a serious occupational health hazard if it is chronically inhaled; ultrafine carbon black was shown to produce minimal lung responses. The differences in opinions of the investigators about the potential hazards of exposures to CNTs are discussed here. Presented here are also the possible mechanisms of CNT pathogenesis in the lung and the impact of residual metals and other impurities on the toxicological manifestations. The toxicological hazard assessment of potential human exposures to airborne CNTs and occupational exposure limits for these novel compounds are discussed Address correspondence to Chiu-wing Lam, JSC Toxicology Group, Space Life Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, SF23/Wyle, Houston, TX 77058, USA. E-mail: Chiu-wing. 189This document is a U.S. government work and is not subject to copyright in the United States. 190C.-W. LAM ET AL. in detail. Environmental fine PM is known to form mainly from combustion of fuels, and has been reported to be a major contributor to the induction of cardiopulmonary diseases by pollutants. Given that manufactured SWCNTs and MWCNTs were found to elicit pathological changes in the lungs, and SWCNTs...

Nanomaterials are frontier technological products used in different manufactured goods. Because of their unique physicochemical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are finding numerous applications in electronics, aerospace devices, computers, and chemical, polymer, and pharmaceutical industries. SWCNT are relatively recently discovered members of the carbon allotropes that are similar in structure to fullerenes and graphite. Previously, we (47) have reported that pharyngeal aspiration of purified SWCNT by C57BL/6 mice caused dose-dependent granulomatous pneumonia, oxidative stress, acute inflammatory/cytokine responses, fibrosis, and decrease in pulmonary function. To avoid potential artifactual effects due to instillation/agglomeration associated with SWCNT, we conducted inhalation exposures using stable and uniform SWCNT dispersions obtained by a newly developed aerosolization technique (2). The inhalation of nonpurified SWCNT (iron content of 17.7% by weight) at 5 mg/m(3), 5 h/day for 4 days was compared with pharyngeal aspiration of varying doses (5-20 microg per mouse) of the same SWCNT. The chain of pathological events in both exposure routes was realized through synergized interactions of early inflammatory response and oxidative stress culminating in the development of multifocal granulomatous pneumonia and interstitial fibrosis. SWCNT inhalation was more effective than aspiration in causing inflammatory response, oxidative stress, collagen deposition, and fibrosis as well as mutations of K-ras gene locus in the lung of C57BL/6 mice.