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Topic Name: Determine nanotech risks
Category: Nanocharacterization
Research persons: David Rejeski & Andrew Maynard
Location: One Woodrow Wilson Plaza,1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20004-3027, United States
Details
Almost a year in the making, a federal plan to prioritize research on the
potential environmental, health, and safety (EHS) impacts of nanoscale materials
has so many failings that its begs the question as to whether the government’s
13-agency nanotechnology research effort is able to deliver an effective risk
research strategy, according to David Rejeski, head of the
Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging
Nanotechnologies.
“Currently, the federal nanotechnology risk research agenda is a bit like a
ship without a captain, and it is unclear who has the responsibility to steer
this ship in the right direction and make sure that it reaches its destination,”
Rejeski said in comments on the new government report, Prioritization of
Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Needs for Engineered Nanoscale
Materials. His full comments, along with those of project chief scientist Andrew
Maynard, are available at nanotechproject.org.
Released for public review on August 16, the 8-page government report was
prepared by a working group of the Nanoscale
Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee (NSET), part of the
federal government’s National Science and Technology Council. In September 2006,
the same working group issued a list of nearly 70 EHS research needs
necessitated by advances in nanotechnology and subsequent commercialization
efforts. The new report responds to some 40 public comments on the “prioritization
criteria” described in last year’s document.
Although the new NSET report pares down the original listing to a shorter
laundry list of 25 research activities, the end result is a “simplistic list of
priorities,” says Rejeski. Furthermore, he states: “It falls far short of the
carefully crafted, prioritized federal nanotechnology EHS research plan urgently
called for over the past two years by leaders from both parties in Congress,
industry, investment firms, scientists and consumer groups. Notably absent are
important details like budget allocations, implementation time frames, and
assigned responsibilities. The report reflects the government’s failure—after
allotting over $8 billion for nanotechnology research since fiscal year 2001—to
develop a coordinated, prioritized, and adequately funded program to
characterize potential risks to human health and the environment associated with
processes and products involving engineered nanomaterials.”
In comments submitted to the NSET, Dr. Maynard said, “It remains hard to see
how this report or subsequent planned activities will help to provide the
information that industry, regulators, and the public need to ensure the safe
development and use of nanotechnology.”
In the project’s submission to the NSET subcommittee, Maynard and Rejeski
both questioned whether following the priorities listed in the document would
yield information that policymakers and regulators need to ensure that existing
and future nanotechnology products are
safe and environmentally
sustainable.
Rejeski advised that funding for nanotechnology-related EHS research be
directed toward agencies which have or support regulatory missions, such as the
Environmental Protection Agency,
Food and Drug Administration,
Department of Agriculture,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, and
the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. “If this document is truly meant to serve as a basis for
a risk research strategy, there is a long way to go,” Rejeski said.
In 2006, nanotechnology was incorporated into more than an estimated $50
billion in manufactured goods. More than 500 manufacturer-identified
nanotechnology consumer products are on the market from
cosmetics to
automobile parts to children’s toy stuffed animals . By 2014, an estimated
$2.6 trillion in manufactured goods will use this technology.
“As the commercialization of increasingly sophisticated nanotechnologies
gathers pace,” Maynard said, “industry, regulators and the public need sound
information, now more than ever, on which to base their decisions. They also
need the assurance that there is a strategy in place to fill knowledge gaps
about risks as fast and efficiently as possible.”
About Researchers:
David Rejeski
David Rejeski directs the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. For the past
four years he has been the Director of the Foresight and Governance Project at
the Woodrow Wilson Center, an initiative designed to facilitate better long-term
thinking and planning in the public sector.
Director , Foresight and Governance Project
Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
Phone: 202/691-4255
Email: david.rejeski@wilsoncenter.org
Affiliation
Director, Foresight and Governance Project
Expertise
Technology policy/assessment; nanotechnology; environmental policy; strategic
planning; computer/video game technology
Andrew Maynard
Dr. Andrew Maynard serves as the Science Advisor to the Project on Emerging
Nanotechnologies. He is internationally recognized as a research leader and
lecturer in the fields of aerosol characterization and the implications of
nanotechnology to occupational health. He trained as a physicist at Birmingham
University in the UK, and after completing a Ph.D. in ultrafine aerosol analysis
at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University (UK) joined the Aerosols
research group of the UK Health and Safety Executive. In 2000 he moved to the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA, where
he focused on addressing nanoparticle exposure in the workplace.
Dr. Maynard’s expertise covers many facets of aerosols and health implications,
from occupational aerosol sampler design to state of the art nanoparticle
analysis, as reflected in over 70 publications. He has represented NIOSH on the
Nanomaterial Science, Engineering and Technology subcommittee of the National
Science and Technology Council (NSET), and co-chaired the Nanotechnology Health
and Environment Implications (NEHI) working group of NSET. In addition, Dr
Maynard was chair of the International Standards Organization Working Group on
size selective sampling in the workplace. Dr. Maynard holds an Associate
Professorship at the University of Cincinnati, and is an Honorary Senior
Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He is a regular international
speaker on nanotechnology, and frequently appears in print and on radio and
television.
About Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology entails the measurement, prediction and construction of materials
on the scale of atoms and molecules. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter,
and nanotechnology typically deals with particles and structures larger than 1
nanometer, but smaller than 100 nanometers. To put this into perspective, the
width of a human hair is approximately 80,000 nanometers.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
is an initiative launched by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2005. It is dedicated to helping
business, government and the public anticipate and manage possible health and
environmental implications of nanotechnology.
The Pew Charitable Trusts is a national
charitable organization serving the public interest by informing the public,
advancing policy solutions and supporting civic life. Based in Philadelphia,
with an office in Washington, D.C., the Trusts will invest $248 million in
fiscal year 2007 to provide organizations with fact-based research and practical
solutions for challenging issues.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson established by
Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center establishes
and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. It is a
nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds and engaged in
the study of national and international affairs
In The Images-
Andrew Maynard & David Rejeski
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