[NEIU Physics Students] [Fwd: FYI #138: Nanotechnology Impacts]

[Gregory W. Anderson]

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: fyi at aip.org
To: G-Anderson at neiu.edu
Subject: FYI #138: Nanotechnology Impacts
Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:46:31 -0500

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.nanotechproject.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.

###############
Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi at aip.org <mailto:fyi at aip.org>  www.aip.org/gov
<http://www.aip.org>
(301) 209-3094
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-- 
Gregory W. Anderson <g-anderson at neiu.edu>
Northeastern Illinois University