Table 2.

SWOT analysis of CNPs: external factors

Opportunities	Threats
Very well suited for use in lateral flow test systems where sensitivity is associated with a relatively wide dynamic range	In the case of pollution: materials (tubing, measuring cells, devices) are not easy to clean; carbon label is less suitable for use in complex, expensive devices
Due to their high contrast, they are suitable for use as a label system in antibody microarray formats
Because of “black on white” test results (applicable to nitrocellulose, nylon, polystyrene colored white), very suitable for quantification of results using "gray pixel" processing	Amorphous particles in the dry state during and immediately after the production phase (present in bulk quantities) can be potentially harmful to health, as they are fine particles; however, their utilization as CNPs in immunoassays does not present health problems
Suitable for use as a label in agglutination/precipitation assays	Finding carbon particles with the desired properties/characteristics (e.g., particles with similar properties but that are much smaller in size) is dependent on what the market can offer
Suitable for use in sensors that employ piezoelectric film detection/sensing