Nanotechnology may help create a new generation of products, but it may also pose risks to the environment and to human health.

Scientists are creating nanoparticles of silver, gold, carbon and even bamboo, which are up to 100 times smaller than a virus, or roughly 80,000 times smaller than a single human hair.

Trillions of nanoparticles must be clumped together to become visible to the naked eye.

These tiny particles can be used in the manufacture of a variety of new products, such as scratch-resistant paint, golf balls that can go farther and medications that can destroy cancer cells.

One company weaves nanoparticles of silver into the fabric of its sports clothing to kill odours.

"It's incredibly exciting," Puckskin, Inc.'s Greg McMillan told CTV News. "It filters out and kills the bacteria so the yarn stays fresh, comfortable, odourless."

Some scientists believe more studies need to be conducted to asses the impact of nanoparticles on human health before they become part of products sold on the mass market.

"In a sense it's a big experiment," Professor Kevin Robbie of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. told CTV News.

"We are putting products onto the marketplace and using them and we don't know what their impact will be."

Some studies have shown that nanoparticles can leak out of products and into the environment. For example, some socks made with nanoparticles have been found to release the particles into waste water.

Experts also think nanoparticles can penetrate the human body and perhaps even individual cells.

"We do not know what impact that will have," Robbie said. "We know it is toxic to a lot of systems, but we don't know what will happen with a wide dispersal of nano silver."

In the meantime, some experts suggest putting labels on products made with nanoparticles so consumers can decide for themselves if they want to expose themselves, and their families, to them.

With a report from CTV medical specialist Avis Favaro and senior producer Elizabeth St. Philip