Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles to be Placed in Clothes to ‘Eat’ Pollution

Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles to be Placed in Clothes to ‘Eat’ Pollution







Lisa Garber
Activist Post

Effortlessly clean up your town’s polluted air with your favorite pair
of jeans – that is what is trying to be done. If this sounds too good to
be true, it’s because it is.

“CatClo,” a liquid laundry additive with titanium dioxide nanoparticles,
is the collaborative work of the University of Sheffield and the London
College of Fashion. All your clothes would need is one cycle with this
additive—because the nanoparticles very stubbornly stick to the
fabrics—to remove pollutants like nitrogen oxide in the air and oxidize
them in the fabric.

The University of Sheffield website firmly says that the pollutants
treated thusly in the presence of daylight do not produce other
pollution hazards and are “harmlessly” removed when the clothes return
to the wash—“if they haven’t already been dissipated harmlessly in
sweat.”

Possible Carcinogen

“Harmlessly” may be a stretch, if not a lie. Titanium dioxide dust has
been linked by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as
a possible carcinogen. Because it would be in nanoparticle form
attached to fabric, titanium dioxide may be able to breach the
blood-brain barrier, especially if absorbed through skin via sustained
wear or sweat.

One also wonders what possibly carcinogenic nanoparticles may be floating around the laundry room and the closet.

Water Pollution

The clothing industry has already seen the introduction of antimicrobial clothes,
wherein antimicrobial compounds are added to kill germs and odors
instead of the safer (and simpler) solution of soap and water. In 2011,
the Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) published their findings that
triclosan and triclocarban—known disruptors of fetal development and
thyroid and heart
function—were removed from clothing in as little as ten washes. These
compounds are toxic to aquatic creatures as well as the water itself,
and are being found in increasing amounts in human urine, breast milk,
and umbilical cord blood.



Long-Term Solutions Needed
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Nitrogen oxides produced by road vehicle
exhausts are a major source of ground-level air pollution in towns and
cities, aggravating asthma and other respiratory diseases. Asthma
currently affects one in 12 adults and one in 11 children in the UK.</blockquote>While
the universities in question may have good intentions—air pollution is a
dire problem—wearing possibly carcinogenic air purifiers on our skin
without long-term testing may not be a healthy choice. Instead, we can
join as a community to critically inquire and solve collective problems
with long-term health and the environment in mind.


Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/09/titanium-dioxide-nanoparticles-to-be.html