Feng Yang, an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at West Virginia University’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, received a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop statistical methods to improve experimental efficiency in the toxicology studies of nanomaterials.

With the advancement of nanotechnology in a wide range of applications, many nanometersized particles, or nanoparticles, are now commercially available. However, the problem exists between the development of these nanoparticles and the risk assessment.

Any substance can be toxic to humans if too much is consumed. It has been found that nanoparticles are more toxic than relatively big particles because they are extremely small.

“Think of nanomaterials as extremely small dust in the air,” Yang said. “Breathing in too much dust makes people sick. When being used by customers, there is no guarantee that their exposure to nanomaterials will be zero. After the product is disposed, you can imagine the dust may go everywhere, making it a concern for the health and safety of workers in the manufacturing sector. “

The toxicity of nanomaterials is studied in the same manner as the toxicity of food colors or heavy metals is tested, said Yang.

“Some nanomaterials are fed to animals to see how they react,” said Yang. “Such biological experiments are expensive and I intend to develop statistical methods so that fewer experiments are needed to find out the toxicity effects of nanomaterials.”

Yang is working to develop procedures that will reduce the amount of biological experiments needed for toxicity assessment. This research will substantially reduce the cost of experiments while alleviating the rising concerns for animal ethics. If successful, the method to be developed could accelerate the process of understanding the potential environmental hazard and human exposure risk posed by nanomaterials.

Yang plans to recruit females, low-income and minority students to participate in the proposed research, hoping to attract young talents into the multidisciplinary field.

“As a woman in engineering, I understand the challenges faced by women and minorities and I believe in involving them in higher education and research will benefit society in the long run.”

While the research hopefuls have yet to be determined, Yang hopes to begin her research soon. Yang is collaborating with Dr. Dale Porter at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

-WVU-

dar/09/13/11

CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, CEMR
304-293-4086; mary.dillon@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.