Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Health (BAuA), Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Federal Envi-
ronment Agency (UBA), Germany
,.2006.[9].
“Knowing.the.basics.about.the.dangers.of.new.materials.is.a.prerequisite.
for.effective.environmental.responsibility..With.cause.for.concern,.and.with.
the. precautionary. principle. applied,. these. materials. should. be. considered.
hazardous. until. shown. otherwise.”.
— Greenpeace Environmental Trust,
200
3
.[10].
•
As. nanotechnology. penetrates. the. marketplace. and. receives. some. press. cov-
erage. (Figure.1.1
. [11,. 12]),. the. public. is. just. beginning. to. develop. opinions. about.
nanotechnology..Those.opinions.will.shape.the.market.for.consumer.goods.contain-
ing.nanotechnology..They.may.affect.the.concerns.of.workers.who.manufacture.or.
incorporate.nanomaterials.into.commercial.products..Finally,.public.opinion.inlu-
ences.the.development.of.regulations..Given.the.possible.weight.and.effects.of.public.
opinions,.they.are.worth.examining.in.this.Introduction.
Public.surveys.between.2003.and.2007.showed.some.common.themes.and.some.
different.perceptions.regarding.nanotechnology.around.the.world..Table.1.1.shows.
the. results. of. six. surveys. of. people. in. the. U.S.,. Great. Britain,. and. Japan. between.
2003.and.2007..This.compilation.is.not.a.meta-survey.or.statistical.analysis.of.the.
aggregated.data,.but.a.summary.of.some.of.the.key.indings.of.these.six.surveys.
In.general,.many.people.knew.little.to.nothing.about.nanotechnology..The.level.
of. knowledge. varied:. between. approximately. 20. and. 46%. of. respondents. to. vari-
ous.U.S..surveys.had.some.familiarity.with.nanotechnology,.as.did.26%.of.survey.
respondents.in.Great.Britain.and.55%.in.Japan..Many.survey.respondents.distrusted.
the. ability. of. the. government. or. corporations. to. manage. nanotechnology. wisely..
Conidence.in.the.beneits.of.nanotechnology.generally.increased.with.knowledge.
In.seeming.contrast.to.the.public's.relatively.limited.knowledge.of.nanotechnol-
ogy,.between.mid-2006.and.mid-2007.the.number.of.commercially.available.prod-
ucts.containing.nanotechnology.more.than.doubled.[13]..The.preix.“nano”.or.key.
words.such.as.“micronized”.featured.prominently.in.some.marketing.materials,.sug-
gesting.that.consumers.may.favor.products.with.the.cachet.of.nanotechnology.—.or.
at.any.rate,.that.advertisers.believe.they.will.
In. the. early. years. of. the. nanotechnology. revolution,. then,. regulators. and. non-
governmental. organizations. (NGOs). acknowledge. the. lack. of. information. on. the.
risks.of.nanotechnology..Surveys.have.shown.that.much.of.the.public.is.unfamiliar.
with.nanotechnology..Despite.this.limited.knowledge,.survey.respondents.believed.
that.nanotechnology.offers.potential.risks.and.rewards..Absent.speciic.knowledge,.
.Figure.1.1.shows.the.results.of.two.literature.searches.that.illustrate.the.increase.in.the.availability.of.
information.regarding.nanotechnology..A.search.of.the.NewsBank.database.[11].represents.informa-
tion. available. to. the. general. public.. NewsBank. incorporates. information. from. 27. news. magazines,.
ranging.from.People.weekly.to.Popular.Science..Figure.1.1.shows.the.results.of.a.keyword.search.of.
NewsBank. on. “nanotechnology”. performed. on. June. 30,. 2007.. A. similar. search. performed. in. Aca-
demic. ASAP™. on. InfoTrac. Web. [12]. shows. the. increase. in. technical. publications.. The. Academic.
ASAP. database. includes. more. than. 14. million. articles. from. academic. journals. (e.g.,. Journal. of. the.
American.Chemical.Society),.magazines.(e.g.,.Chemical.Week),.and.news.(e.g.,.Pesticide.and.Chemi-
cal.News)..Values.for.2007.in.Figure.1.1.were.estimated.by.doubling.the.numbers.of.articles.published.
between.January.1.and.June.30,.2007.
