23 August 2012 Last updated at 22:27 ET
Inhaling tiny fibres made by the nanotechnology industry could cause similar health problems to asbestos, say researchers.
Some are similar in shape to asbestos fibres, which have caused lung cancers such as mesothelioma.
Research on mice, published in Toxicology Sciences, suggests the longer nanofibres are more dangerous.
Human and mouse lungs are different, but the researchers hope the study will help to design safer nanofibres.
Nanofibres are in a range of goods, from airplane wings to tennis rackets.
Ken Donaldson, professor of respiratory toxicology at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Concern has been expressed that new kinds of nanofibres being made by nanotechnology industries might pose a risk because they have a similar shape to asbestos."
Silver nanofibres of varying lengths were injected into the lungs of mice.
Those larger than five micrometres, or five-thousandths of a millimetre, tended to become lodged in the lungs and cause inflammation. The smaller ones were cleared from the lungs.
Prof Donaldson said: "We knew that long fibres, compared with shorter fibres, could cause tumours, but until now we did not know the cut-off length at which this happened.
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Nanofibres 'may pose health risk'
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