Fine line AWU's Paul Howes wants research. Photo: Louie Douvis

THE union leader Paul Howes has likened nanotechnology to asbestos and called for more research to ease fears the growing use of fine particles could endanger manufacturing workers.

''I don't want to make the mistake that my predecessors made by not worrying about asbestos,'' the Australian Workers' Union national secretary said.

Substances called nanomaterials - measuring between one and 100 nanometres, a fraction of the width of a human hair - are used to make products such as non-scratching car wax, some types of paint, lighter sporting equipment, and self-cleaning coatings for glass and building materials.

Scientists believe nanotechnology holds the potential to improve water purification, medical treatments, solar power efficiency, engineering manufacturing processes and security screening.

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While the national science agency CSIRO says nanomaterials can be useful because they often have different properties from larger particles of the same substance, it is also researching whether some nanomaterials may harm human health and the environment. This follows a pilot study published in Nature Nanotechnology in 2008 suggesting that types of carbon nanotubes may behave like asbestos fibres and cause disease when injected into the abdominal cavity of mice.

Mr Howes said nanotechnology was present in high-performance manufacturing enterprises that used chemicals and applications that were enhanced by it. He was worried nanotechnology could be used to carry carcinogenic particles and believed it needed proper regulation and more research.

''What I fear with nanotechnology is that it's starting to spread everywhere through Australian industry I think about what my predecessors did when asbestos first became widely used in Australia and all of a sudden it appeared in every workplace and household in Australia,'' he said.

''No one knew about the dangers of it; everyone thought it was this miracle fibre that could be used for anything and it was going to transform Australia. Lo and behold, it also kills you.

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Union seeks to protect workers from threat of disease from nanotechnology