Union advises school to avoid nano sunscreens
By Jason Major
TechNyou
The Australian Education Union released a media statement advising its members in schools to use sunscreen that is free of nanoparticles until research confirms the safety of this new technology.
A fair comment I would suggest, but then it goes on to say the following:
“There are concerns that nanoparticles in sunscreen could pass through the skin and remain in the body where their potential for toxicity is unclear.”
Yes this is a possibility, and there are some unknowns about what happens if it does enter living cells, but there is a lack of context here. It is known that for the most part such particles, which in sunscreens are Zinc Oxide or Titanium dioxide, don’t penetrate healthy skin. Damaged, aged or infant skin may be a different matter. The problems, however, may not be as dramatic as the picture painted in this statement.
This is how some media coverage blew the nanoparticles in sunscreen issue all out of proportion last year
Second para from AEU release
“AEU Victorian president Mary Bluett said: “While the jury is still out on how safe nanoparticles are, we are advising schools to be cautious and consider using nano-free sunscreen, of which there are a number widely available on the market.””
My issue is with the first sentences in this para as it paints all nanoparticles with the same brush. The jury is not out on the safety of nanoparticles as a whole. There is certainly some dodgy ones out there you wouldn’t want to be exposed to and there are many nanoparticles about which we know zip, but there are thousands of different nanoparticles. We know heaps about the behaviour and properties of many and can manage the risks associated with them, if there are any. And having nanoparticles absorbing or sneaking past out bodily barriers is not necessarily a bad thing, often it is desired, especially in drug delivery where you want the drug-toting particle to get into cells or the parts of the body where the drug needs to do its thing.
Nanoparticles ain’t nanoparticles
Each nanoparticle, whether it is a natural or engineered particle, will have a different risk profile, a profile that will be different depending on how and where it is manufactured, used and disposed of.
Being cautious and questioning how we use this these technologies is necessary, but the language of the media statement to me is misleading. If I was in a dramatic mood you could argue it is suggesting the scientists have unleashed the nano beast without care or understanding, but then I would be guilty of sensationalism. Nano is many things and it is new and there are risks, but we need to avoid lumping all these risks under the one heading, which in this case is nanoparticles.
Australian research into nano safety
For more info on what is happening on the safety of the nanoparticles in sunscreen check the following from CSIRO
A podcast
An overview of this and other nanoparticle safety research
The media
The ABC and a few other media outlets picked it up the story