Brain Damage Newsroom

Buildup Of Nanoparticles May Cause Brain Damage

Colorized transmission electron micrograph showing chains of cobalt nanoparticles, which are similar to those in manganese oxide. (Image credit: G. Cheng, A.R. Hight Walker/NIST)

Colorized transmission electron micrograph showing chains of cobalt nanoparticles. (Image credit: G. Cheng, A.R. Hight Walker/NIST)Washington -- To find out if the tiniest airborne particles pose a health risk, University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have shown that when rats breathe in nano-sized materials, the particles quickly follow an efficient path from the nose to several brain regions.

Nano-sized materials -- also called ultrafine particles and nanoparticles -- are 1-100 nanometers in diameter. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

The study, published in the August issue of Environmental Health Perspectives -- a publication of the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) -- was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NIEHS and the departments of Defense and Energy.

The researchers examined nanoparticles from a chemical compound called manganese oxide, which is prevalent in welding fumes. They tested the nanoparticles at a concentration typically inhaled by factory welders.

"The main reason for studying manganese oxide," said lead author Alison Elder, research assistant professor of environmental medicine at Rochester, "is that welders as a group have an increased incidence of Parkinson-like symptoms earlier in life than people with genetically controlled Parkinson's disease, so that was an intriguing finding." Read more at usinfo.state.gov