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The First Stain on Super Material Graphene: It May Be Toxic

By Christie Nicholson - May 7, 2014

in Materials

In the world of material science graphene might be considered its Superman, Einstein and Edison combined. In the lab, it has proven itself to be nothing short of magical and amazingly useful time and time again.

The single-atom slice of pure carbon is crazy strong, yet lightweight and very flexible. While it is not yet used in commercial applications, it is under very active development for potential use in photovoltaics, energy storage, electronics and filtration, among many others. We're not talking about it just being part of such applications—it will radically change everything. If it lives up to promise, we'll be able to charge our phones in about five seconds, clean up huge amounts of radioactive waste, make salt water drinkable, create unbreakable touch screens, insert bionic devices in human tissue—the list goes on.

But it looks like the first doubt has been cast upon the darling of materials science. Two studies published this month have found some negative side effects. A group at Brown University have found that the material may be toxic to humans. The edges of graphene are sharp and very strong and can penetrate the membranes of lung, skin and immune cells. This could mean pretty serious damage, since the nanoparticles could either be inhaled or intentionally injected into human tissue as part of medical therapies.

The second study comes from the University of California and concerns the environment. Seems that graphene oxide can remain stable in lakes and rivers. This means that any spillage could travel far and stick around long enough to actually cause harm to plants, fish and animals.

Co-author Jacob D. Lanphere told gizmag:

The situation today is similar to where we were with chemicals and pharmaceuticals 30 years ago. We just don't know much about what happens when these engineered nanomaterials get into the ground or water. So we have to be proactive so we have the data available to promote sustainable applications of this technology in the future.

Currently the Advanced Chemicals Supplier (pdf) lists graphene as nothing more than a possible skin or eye irritant. Right now there are no carcinogenic effects listed and no developmental toxicity. However, it is listed as toxic to the upper respiratory tract and possibly toxic to the cardiovascular system and other organs.

To be sure, it's very early days yet for this man-made material—discovered just a decade ago—and the hope is that we can work through proper safety long before it reaches commercial territory.

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8 years ago

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paul

10 years ago

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"doubts" you're either a moron or someone allied with the manufacture of graphene so you have a financial stake in this miracle material. What part of the fact that this material could make salt water into drinkable water makes you think that it won't be in direct contact with humans? Isn't drinking water a NUMBER ONE ESSENTIAL HUMAN NEED! Here's what will happen....we'll ignore these ominous possible dangers and run head long into it's development because of it's great potentials (read ...making somebody extremely wealthy) only to discover that we've now added an irretrievable toxic element into our environment and our bodies. Hey, I hope they're wrong, it does seem like a miracle material, but we should be absolutely sure first if that's ever possible. At the end of the day greed will win out...it's the American way. I'm an American and I care about this land , this Earth, and what we're doing to it. It just seems like there are too many ignorant and uninformed people who are running the show.
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Callum

10 years ago

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Dear 'doubts',

No human will come into direct contact with it?

Except when a rogue factory dumps it's waste illegally?
Except when a graphene based device catches fire or is intentionally burned?
Except when electric cars full of graphene based batteries are involved in a motorway pileup?
Except when products are sent to landfill break up in the soil?
Except when graphene filters degrade over time and migrate into the water they're filtering?

Graphene is an incredibly exciting material and I look forward to seeing it implemented in genuinely useful ways, but it's arrogant to assume there will be no consequences to it's use, foreseen or otherwise.

If you are an industrial designer - I sincerely hope you give more thought to the end-of-useful-life of the products you design, and the myriad of ways in which what they might have unintended hazards or knock on effects to people and the environment.
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No doubts

10 years ago

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I agree with the above. New barely understood technology is always harmless. Radium, asbestos, BPA, CFCs... all miracle materials with no side effects. And nobody eats a solar panel, so no problem? They just disappear when disposed of, and never stay in the tiny closed system that is our planet.
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doubts

10 years ago

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At best, the title of this article is sensationalist nonsense. At worst, this is blatant fear mongering of a material that could, as noted, drastically change society. The idea that graphene could be harmful to anyone is ridiculous. Virtually none of the technology that is being developed using graphene actually involves humans coming in direct contact with it.
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