FWD: Health and Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology Explored

[Guest guest]

FYI

The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News

Number 138: December 4, 2006

Web Version: http://www.aip. org/fyi/2006/ 138.html

<http://www.aip. org/fyi/2006/ 116.html>

 

Health and Environmental Impacts of Nanotechnology Explored

 

Nanotechnology and its possible risks, both real and perceived, were

the subject of a recent hearing, several documents, and a session at

last month's Industrial Physics Forum of the American Institute of

Physics.

 

Products containing nanomaterials are already on the market and

generating billions of dollars in industry profits. Some estimates

indicate that a worldwide market in the trillions of dollars could

arise in the coming decade. However, there is concern within

industry as well as from consumer and environmental groups that the

environmental, health, and safety (EHS) consequences of

nanotechnology are as yet largely unknown, and that real or

perceived risks could dampen the growth of the market. " The

enormous potential benefits of nanotechnology could be easily

squandered if health and safety concerns are not satisfactorily

addressed, " said House Science Committee Ranking Minority Member

Bart Gordon (D-TN) at a hearing earlier this fall.

 

SCIENCE COMMITTEE HEARING:

 

Gordon, Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), and

non-government witnesses at the September 21 hearing contended that

federal research efforts on EHS impacts need better planning,

coordination, and funding. According to the hearing charter, the

President has requested $1.3 billion in FY 2007 for nanotechnology

R & D through the interagency National Nanotechnology Initiative. Of

this amount, $44.1 million (3.5 percent of the total) is intended

for research into environmental and safety implications. This would

represent an almost 20 percent increase over FY 2006 funding for EHS

research.

 

According to Matthew Nordan, the President of Lux Research Inc.,

while " nanotechnology EHS research in government agencies, academic

institutions, and industrial facilities is expanding, " it is " being

performed in an ad hoc fashion according to individual priorities

that both risk costly duplication of effort and raise the specter of

key issues remaining unaddressed. "

 

" Make no mistake, nanotechnology is different, and there will be

some materials and products...that have the potential to cause

harm, " warned Andrew Maynard, Chief Science Advisor to the Project

on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International

Center for Scholars. Maynard told the committee that " current

federally funded research is not addressing the general range of

risks that may already be present in the market and...risk research

is not guided by a careful consideration of needs. "

 

In addition to better prioritization and planning, Boehlert declared

that research into the EHS impacts of nanotechnology " is grossly

underfunded. Conservative estimates of what's needed are more than

twice as much as we're spending today. " Nordan cited a " consensus

widely held in industry and among non-governmental organizations "

that funding of between $100 and $200 million annually is needed.

 

NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL WORKING GROUP REPORT:

 

The hearing was the occasion for release of a long-awaited report by

the Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI)

Working Group of the cabinet-level White House National Science and

Technology Council. " Unfortunately, " Gordon commented, " this is not

the research plan with well-defined priorities and resource

requirements we had expected to see. " The report " doesn't fully set

priorities, never mind assign them, " Boehlert added. In introducing

the report, Norris Alderson, the FDA Associate Commissioner for

Science, noted that it was only a " first step in addressing the

research needed " for " informed risk assessment and risk management

of nanomaterials. " The report lists five general research areas

identified as necessary for evaluating EHS issues for

nanomaterials: 1.) Instrumentation, metrology, and analytical

methods; 2.) Nanomaterials and human health; 3.) Nanomaterials and

the environment; 4.) Health and environmental surveillance; and 5.)

Risk management methods. The report, " Environmental, Health, and

Safety Research Needs for Engineered Nanoscale Materials, " is

available at www.nano.gov/ NNI_EHS_research _needs.pdf

<http://www.nano. gov>

 

NATURE PAPER ON SAFE HANDLING OF NANOTECHNOLOGY:

 

The Woodrow Wilson Center's Maynard is the first author of a paper

on the " Safe Handling of Nanotechnology " that appeared in the

November 16 issue of the journal Nature (see www.nanotechproject .org

<http://www.nanotech project.org> for more information) . Boehlert

and Gordon issued a joint statement commending this paper, saying

that it " should be a landmark in the history of nanotechnology

research. It lays out a clear, reasonable, prioritized,

consensus-based set of priorities for examining the potential

environmental and health consequences of nanotechnology over the

next decade and a half. " They add, " This paper should eliminate any

remaining excuses for inaction in this vitally important area....

There is absolutely no reason that [participating] agencies and the

White House should not now quickly put together a plan and a budget

to implement the recommendations in the Nature paper as part of the

fiscal 2008 budget. "

 

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INDUSTRIAL PHYSICS FORUM:

Maynard was also one of the speakers at the AIP Industrial Physics

Forum's November 14 session on Nanotechnology and Society,

discussing oversight and management of potential risks. Other

presenters included James Murday of the University of Southern

California, speaking on EHS research needs; Michele Ostraat of

DuPont Engineering Research and Technology, speaking on the

Nanoparticle Occupational Safety and Health Consortium; Wei-xian

Zhang of Lehigh University, speaking on the use of nanotechnology

for soil and groundwater cleanup; and Ann Johnson of the University of

South Carolina, speaking on the ethics of nanoscience and

nanotechnology. Several of these presentations can be viewed at

<http://www.aip. org/ca/2006/>. Other session topics included

Nanotechnology Manufacturing and Emerging Materials and Devices.

 

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL REVIEW:

 

In September, soon after the Science Committee hearing, a committee

of the National Research Council also recommended that research into

the environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology

be expanded. This was one of the recommendations in the report, " A

Matter of Size: Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology

Initiative. " This report finds " considerable evidence " that " the

NNI is successfully coordinating nanoscale R & D efforts and interests

across the federal government; catalyzing cooperative research and

technology development across a spectrum of disciplines " and

" opening a host of new opportunities for scientific discoveries at

the nanoscale. " The NRC report, which runs approximately 176 pages,

can be ordered for $33.75 at

<http://newton. nap.edu/catalog/ 11752.html>. The Executive Summary

and portions of the report can also be read on-line at this site.

 

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Audrey T. Leath

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi <fyi (AT) aip (DOT) org> www.aip.org/ gov

<http://www.aip. org>

(301) 209-3094

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