STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- Graphene, a carbon-based nanomaterial, is often described as a “wonder material”
- It’s lightweight, flexible, invisible to the naked eye and strong, and also is an efficient conductor of heat and electricity, with antibacterial properties
- Graphene works to prevent mosquito bites, deterring them by acting as both a mechanical and chemical barrier, provided it’s dry (when wet, mosquitoes weren’t deterred by graphene)
- There are concerns graphene could be inhaled, enter cells and pose respiratory and other health and environmental effects
- There’s not enough information to accurately assess whether or not graphene — and its many variations — is safe for human health and the environment
