Why Are People Scared With Graphene?

In the era of information noise and the flood of fake news, it is essential to separate the wheat from the chaff and point out inaccuracies in publicly available sources. During the COVID pandemic and Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, there have been reports on the Internet frightening people with graphene, claiming that it is added to vaccines and tablets with iodine. This information inspired today’s entry, aimed at debunking such harmful theories and posing the question of why people are being scared with graphene?

Development of modern technologies and advanced materials, with a particular focus on nanomaterials, including carbon-based nanomaterials such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene is our reality. Nanomaterials are already present in everyday products, and we often use them without knowing it. It is all the more peculiar that information is being created to discredit graphene as a toxic and deadly additive, for instance, in COVID-19 vaccines.

We have not come anywhere across reliable and credible scientific sources showing clear results indicating the presence of graphene or its derivatives in the mentioned vaccines. Where did this idea come from? Most likely, someone misinterpreted scientific publications describing the potential use of graphene materials as drug carriers or as materials for testing vaccine effectiveness. However, such reports point to the usefulness of graphene materials, not their toxic effects.

There are reports about the potentially harmful effects of graphene materials on the human body. However, everything depends on the size of the particles, their purity, and, above all, their concentration. Remember that any substance can be harmful in large quantities, even water. We should not scare people with false information. Scientists have a social responsibility to verify false and harmful information. Otherwise, we will hinder progress and impede research into interesting materials.

Of course, honesty and the integrity of scientific research are indispensable imperatives, in this case, determining the level of trust society has in scientific experts. If it turns out that a material is harmful, it should be reported. However, COVID-19 vaccines using graphene are (at least for now) science fiction, not science.