Regulating Nanotechnologies

Posted by Osagie K. Obasogie November 28, 2006
By Osagie K. Obasogie, Biopolitical Times | 11.28.2006
Biopolitical Times

https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/biopolitical-times/regulating-nanote…

Mention the words “nano” and “technology” in the same sentence this Holiday season and more than likely people will think you’re talking about a tiny portable juke box. But, nanotechnologies aren’t music to everyone’s ears these days, as evidenced by two recent regulatory efforts to curb their potentially harmful effects. Last Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving away from its initial approval of nanomaterials to now require manufacturers to provide scientific evidence that nanosilver is not harmful when used as a household germ-killer. (Click here for more info on nanotech’s incorporation into everyday products). After taking a largely anti-regulatory approach, this is the Federal government’s first foray into regulating the burgeoning nanotech industry which is likely to become a $29 billion market by 2008. Just one day after the EPA’s announcement, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Berkeley, California, is poised to become the first city to enact a local ordinance regulating the use of nanomaterials.

What is it about nanotechnology that is creating this unusual regulatory symmetry between a Republican led federal agency and a city that many conservatives still refer to as the People’s Republic of Berkeley? Nanotechnology’s novelty is its ability to allow researchers to design materials at the atomic level, as small as one-millionth the width of a pin head. The promise here is that by creating materials at such small levels, there may be new possibilities to make them stronger, more flexible, and more efficient. But, as some environmental groups have warned, Nanotech’s dangers are inextricably tied to its advantages. Potentially toxic nanoparticles are likely to be small enough to pass through people's skin and cell membranes, which can have unknown health effects. In addition, compounds can be more chemically reactive at a nano scale, which creates concerns over their volatility.

It is certainly encouraging to see local and federal governments taking a more precautionary approach to this new technology. But the growing convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technologies, and cognitive sciences suggest that truly effective oversight requires expansion into other currently unregulated areas in order to have a sophisticated understanding of these technologies’ overlap and to protect public health.
U.S. Federal