Nanotech Product Recall Underscores Need for Nanotech Moratorium

[Guest guest]

Fri, 7 Apr 2006 15:24:19 -0400

etcgroup

ETC Group: Nanotech Moratorium Call Renewed After Product Recall

 

 

 

 

News Release

ETC Group

April 7, 2006

www.etcgroup.org

 

 

Nanotech Product Recall Underscores Need for Nanotech Moratorium:

Is the Magic Gone?

 

ETC Group today renewed its 2003 call for a global moratorium on

nanotech lab research and a recall of consumer products containing

engineered nanoparticles. There is particular urgency for those

products that are ingested, applied to the body or released in the

environment. The need for action is underscored following the

decision by German authorities to recall a nanotech bathroom cleaner,

" Magic Nano " - purportedly a product of nanotechnology. At least 77

people reported respiratory problems in late March after using the

product. Six people were hospitalized but later released when their

respiratory distress faded.(1) The company marketing " Magic Nano " is

Kleinmann GmbH, a German subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works (a US

Fortune 200 corporation with 650 subsidiaries in 45 countries and

49,000 employees). Kleinmann sells " Magic Nano " in a spray pump and

as an aerosol spray. The recall only applies to the aerosol spray.(2)

There is no information available regarding the nano chemical

compound used, nor whether the problem lies with the nanoparticles or

with the interaction between the particles and the conventional

aerosol propellant.

 

The nanotechnology industry responded swiftly by pointing out that

the recalled product may not even contain nanoparticles; the company

could be simply taking advantage of the marketing cachet of high-tech

" nano. " Michael Holman, an analyst at Lux Research in New York, told

the Washington Post that the nanotech industry is working closely

with government regulators to ensure product safety.

 

" They may be working closely, but they're not working swiftly - or in

the interests of public safety, " says Pat Mooney, Executive Director

of ETC Group, a Canadian-based civil society organization monitoring

nanotechnology. " We don't really know if nanotechnology is to blame

for the nanotech product recall. The important point is that no

government anywhere regulates nano-scale materials if the same

chemical substance has been vetted at the macro-scale. Determining

health and safety is further complicated because there are no

labeling requirements or even agreed-upon nanotech definitions or

methods of measuring nanoparticles, " says Mooney.

 

Nanoparticles are generally understood to be particles below 100 nm

in size - about 1/ 80,000 of a human hair - that take advantage of

the quantum effects (property changes that occur at the nano-scale).

In general, nanoparticles of 70 nm can enter the lungs while a 50 nm

particle can enter cells and a 30 nm particle can pass through the

blood/brain barrier. Not only can such tiny particles go undetected

by the body's immune system, they also exhibit properties not found

at the macro-scale. For example, aluminum oxide - used in dentistry

because of its inertness - can spontaneously explode at the nano-

scale and is being tested as a potential rocket fuel.

 

" It's the unpredictable property changes that make 'nano' new and

different. Given the complete absence of regulations to address those

changes, we've been calling for a moratorium on the introduction of

products like this since 2003, " adds Hope Shand in ETC Group's North

Carolina office. " There are scores of products out there whose nano-

scale ingredients are escaping regulatory review and they include

anti-wrinkle creams, sunscreens, chocolate diet shakes, tooth powder,

pesticides, cooking oil, vitamin supplements and more. " (3) In June

2004 the UK's Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering

recommended " that ingredients in the form of nanoparticles undergo a

full safety assessment by the relevant scientific advisory body

before they are permitted for use in products. " (4)

 

ETC's moratorium call encompasses nanotech laboratory research. " It

is unethical to have workers conducting research or handling

nanoparticles in the absence of agreed-upon safety standards and

regulatory oversight, " says Shand.

 

To date, the scientific community and governments have not yet

established " best practices " for this research. Scientists and

regulators must quickly establish safety standards and a mechanism

for monitoring and updating the standards as new information comes

forward.

 

For more information on ETC Group's call for a moratorium, see: Size

Matters! The Case for a Global Moratorium: http://www.etcgroup.org/

article.asp?newsid=392

 

For further information, please contact:

Pat Mooney, ETC Group

etc +1 613 241-2267

 

Jim Thomas, ETC Group

jim +1 613 241-2267

 

Hope Shand or Kathy Jo Wetter, ETC Group

hope +1 919 960-5223

kjo +1 919 960-5223

 

Silvia Ribeiro

silvia + 52 5555 6326 64

 

 

1 Rick Weiss, " Nanotech Product Recalled in Germany, " Washington

Post, April 5, 2006.

2

http://www.kleinmann.net/html/index.php?name=News & file=article & sid=115

3 See the Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory compiled by the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars:

www.nanotechproject.org/index.php?id=44

4 Royal Society and Royal Academy, Nanoscience and nanotechnologies:

opportunities and uncertainties, July 2004, p. 85. On the Internet:

http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm

_____________

ETC Group mailing list

http://lists.etcgroup.org/mailman/listinfo/etcgroup