What is one to make of the comparison of carbon nanotubes to asbestos fibres?
The suggestions that carbon nanotubes could be as injurious to health as asbestos can be neither confirmed nor refuted as yet. Only many years of scientific investigation can shed light on this question. What is clear, however, is that at present there is a crucial difference between nanotubes and asbestos: with an annual production volume of 2 billion kilograms, asbestos could be found everywhere at the beginning of the 90s. By contrast, carbon nanotubes are manufactured synthetically using an elaborate process. Research work is currently confined to a few laboratories using quantities in the microgram range, the worldwide production volume is currently less than 10 kilograms. The scientists who work with free nanotubes are very well aware that some risks are not known as yet and therefore take the necessary precautions in their work.
