April 23, 2009: A water desalination industry publication is running warnings of potential dangers of nanoparticles used in developing desalination technologies.

The online newsletter Desalination & Water Reuse, cites concerns from Kenneth Donaldson, a toxicology professor at the University of Edinburgh, who said he was concerned about the “potential impacts of manufactured nanoparticles on health.”

Examples of nanomaterials being proposed for water treatment membranes are carbon nanotubes or nanocapillary arrays for nanofiltration and nanoreactive membranes. The article cited studies where nanotubes demonstrated “asbestos-like behavior.”