Scientists study whether complex chemical compounds could pose health risk

The potential of minute particles – around 100 times smaller in diameter than a human hair – to increase the risks of developing diseases such as cancer is to be analysed in a study led by experts at Plymouth University. Scientists in the UK and Europe will examine the reactions of manufactured or engineered nanoparticles – used in food coloring, cosmetics and other industrial products – with other common pollutants such as exhaust fumes, tobacco smoke and oil leaks, collectively known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and universally present in the environment. They will then investigate whether the complex mixtures produced by these reactions could also have a detrimental impact on human and environmental health. The three-and-a-half year study, funded with more than £750,000 from the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), will be led by Plymouth University Professor of Ecotoxicology Awadhesh Jha. It will see scientists from Plymouth working alongside colleagues from the University of Nottingham, King’s College London and the Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria in Italy. Professor Jha said: “Man-made nanoparticles are of tremendous technological and economic interest and have a wide range of potential applications in environmental remediation, medical and consumer products. But they have properties which make them potentially reactive, and these particles are being discharged into the environment alongside other pollutants, such as PAHs.