Regulating Nanotechnologies
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.