CHEMISTRY:
Nanotubes: The Next Asbestos?
Robert F. Service
There is potentially one very big fly in the ointment of nanotubes' potential for use in molecular-scale electronic devices: toxicity. Nanotubes are rigid graphite cylinders, each just one or more nanometers wide and up to 100 micrometers long--and they resemble the shape of asbestos fibers that have been linked to cancer. Until potential health hazards have been evaluated, investigators are treating nanotubes with caution.