纳米材料翻译（8）

Symposium Spotlights the State of the Science Nanotechnology research may still be in its infancy， but indications are good that the field will be growing up fast in the coming years. This promising trend was evident at the second Interna... Symposium Spotlights the State of the Science Nanotechnology research may still be in its infancy， but indications are good that the field will be growing up fast in the coming years. This promising trend was evident at the second International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Occupational Health， which was held in Minneapolis in early October 2005. Sponsored by NIOSH， the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota and the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice University， the symposium showcased not only the progress that has been made in the study of nanotechnology’s workplace issues， but also the depth and breadth of questions that remain. Patrick O’Shaughnessy of the University of Iowa， Iowa City， considered the meeting “very productive. It brought together most of the players from health and safety. It was good to see the variety of academic， government and business people interested in ensuring that the health and safety topics and concerns are addressed as soon as possible. No one wants another asbestos problem to emerge.”He notes that several talks and poster sessions on toxicology showed data implying that nanoparticles tested may not be as reactive as first suspected. In addition， there was a general consensus that typical mass-based measurements will not be adequate when evaluating a workplace because of nanoparticles’ small size and low mass. “Interestingly， devices that measure particle surface area may be very useful because the particles have an extremely large surface-to-volume ratio， and therefore， a greater potential to react with lung tissue，” O’Shaughnessy says. Other topics of interest， adds Mark Hoover of NIOSH， Morgantown， W. Va.， included how to organize health and safety programs and resources to manage nanoparticles effectively and safely， personal protective equipment and filtration， as well as whether existing information about micrometer particles can be extrapolated to the nanometer range. “The evidence is still developing，” Hoover says， “but many people will do investigations with multiple metrics so we can be sure.”Hoover was also impressed with the symposium’s international flavor. “You had a lot of networking going on between U.S. scientists and their colleagues from the Pacific Rim， the European Union， Australia and New Zealand，” he says. “Everybody is eager to get up to speed with their colleagues’ research.”