While, early December 2009, the French Agency for the Sanitary Occupational and Environment Safety (Afsset), has commented the results of a study on nanoparticles and their potential risks when used in cosmetics, in the main French cities, there are public meetings organized by the Commission dedicated to the public debate on nanotechnologies.
The Bulletin de veille scientifique de décembre (n°9) (Document on technological monitoring, December, nbr 9) issued by the Afsset, has published, in its pages 8 and 9, an analysis made by Marie Carrière, of the French Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (Directorate of the Atomic Energy), in Saclay, near Paris, of a study performed in 2008 by four researchers and their teams: Mortensen LJ, Oberdorster G, Pentland AP, Delouise LA.
Penetration in dermis and harmful effects
The results of this study, released first in 2008, and widely discussed on the Internet, demonstrate for the first time that nanoparticles are able to go through the cutaneous barrier when the skin is damaged, following exposure to ultra-violet radiation. “Though the penetration of nanoparticles found in this study is not on a large scale, these results lead to the taking of some precautions when using cosmetics that contain nanoparticles, especially on damaged skins. In fact, the nanoparticles could both enter the skin and go deep inside, and induce harmful effects on the different cellular layers that make skin. Therefore, care shall be taken to avoid using cosmetics containing some kinds of nanoparticles on damaged skins.”
Even if “the nanoparticles used for this study are …
