Nanotech Needs Safeguards?

According to a new report, US laws may not be adequately protecting the public's health and safety in the growing area of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is being used to make new materials for a wide variety of common daily use items, like toothpaste. However, few of the items’ manufacturers currently inform consumers or regulators about the nano materials. There is a lack of definitive research on whether the materials are safe or dangerous.

Nanotechnology involves the manufacture and manipulation of materials at the molecular or atomic level. Nano materials are used in at least 80 consumer products in the US. US regulatory agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FDA claim their rules adequately cover nano-engineered materials, though some contend that as the nano field is booming, now is the time to create new guidelines to protect consumers and provide more direction for the manufacturing process.

Cleveland , Ohio , site of Avani International’s global headquarters, is also an area of significant expansion in the nano field. In fact, nanotechnology is a key industrial sector for the area’s innovative economic growth.

Source: The Plain Dealer, January 11, 2006.