Exposure to Nanoparticles - Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Nanotechnology - page 340

Aitken et al. (2004) attempted to make a fi rst estimate of workers involved in
United Kingdom nanotechnology industries. They derived best-estimates based on
information available in the public domain coupled with assumptions about links
between economic value and employment which they conceded had not been
tested. They identifi ed several limitations to their work including that:
• Nanotechnology is 'a multifaceted and malleable group of technologies' and it is
diffi cult to associate it with specifi c areas of application.
• There is a growing ability to manipulate materials on the nanoscale, most of
which will be in combination with non-nanotechnologies. Whilst most companies
involved in nanotechnology will market themselves as such it is possible that
some companies may not do so to the same extent as others and so might be
overlooked.
• There are few readily available, comprehensive and up - to - date databases which
contain summary company information.
• The numbers of companies involved in nanotechnology are increasing constantly;
therefore, any estimates will be soon redundant.
• Information on numbers of employees per company are not always available in
the public domain.
• Even when employee information is available, it is often unclear whether the
fi gures cited are for total company employees or those specifi cally involved in
manufacturing / research activities.
• It is not always obvious which country company manufacturing sites are located
or indeed how many sites a company has.
Because of these limitations they indicated that the numbers provided no more
than a very broad estimate of the potential and predicted numbers of employees
involved in nanotechnology and should not be taken as a defi nitive fi gure.
Their estimates, which have been widely quoted, were at that time (2004):
• Approximately 2000 people employed in the university/research sector and in
new nanoparticle companies in activities in which they may potentially be
exposed to nanoparticles in some form.
• Based on the information available, a maximum of 500 workers are considered
to potentially be exposed to nanoparticles through existing ultrafi ne manu-
facturing processes. Most of these are involved in the manufacture of carbon
black.
• Nearly 100 000 individuals may potentially be exposed to fi ne powders through
various powder handling processes, the majority of which being employed by the
pharmaceutical industry. It is not possible to say what proportion of these may
be exposed to nanoparticles.
The authors also emphasised that most exposure to nanoparticles in the United
Kingdom will be via the incidental production of nanoparticles through processes
such as welding and refi ning. Their estimate was that over a million workers are
potentially exposed to nanoparticle by-products due to these processes.
Given the level of investment, it is highly like that the number of people in the
university/research sectors and in new nanoparticle companies has grown substan-