Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
8.5 NANOTOXICITY REGULATIONS
Nanotechnology awareness has slightly increased in 2009.
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About three in
ten (31%) Americans indicate hearing about nanotechnology and about 37%
of adults still indicate that they have heard nothing about nanotechnology and
68% say they have heard just a little or nothing at all.
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Similarly to the previ-
ous years reported, men say 42% heard a lot or some with men under 50 (48%),
college graduates (45%), and individuals with an annual household income over
$75,000 (46%) report the highest levels of awareness of nanotechnology.
The supporters of nanotechnology see it as a new industrial revolution which
presents enormous economic potential as well as the possibility of applications
in everything from materials to medicine to engineering to space travel.
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But this is accompanied by nanotechnology's potential to present new risks
to human health and to the environment. The various potential applications
of nanotechnology offers the possibility to radically transform the quality of
everyday life, therefore, their ethical and social significance must be thoroughly
evaluated. In 2008, the UK Prime Minister Ian Pearson noted in a speech noted
that Nanotechnology's development is 'an ethical as well as a scientific ques-
tion, and the public's voice should be heard in answering it'.
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In Europe,
scientific research on nanotechnology has been accompanied by interest in its
ethical implications, public awareness, and making its regulations more robust.
In the past five years international policy discussions concerning the appropriate
mechanisms for the governance and regulation of nanotechnology has emerged.
This is intertwined with the dilemma between enhancing innovation while
preventing potential risks to the environment and human health. This leads to
'anticipatory' governance because most people are unfamiliar with nanotech-
nology and have little exposure to factual knowledge of its nature and capa-
bilities. Most nanotechnologies especially the NMs for medicine are at early or
premarket stage of development that have not gone out of the bench top studies.
Moreover, there are too many different kinds, types, sizes, shapes, etc. of exist-
ing and emerging NMs that there is considerable task to be accomplished before
the risks to human and to the environment can begin to unfold.
The European Commission prepared and adopted the Code of Conduct for
responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research.
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This defined the
code of conduct in the various research areas in the nanotechnology which have
called the attention of policymakers and civil society organizations because
of potential societal and environmental controversies that may be generated.
Nanotechnology brings lots of hope on the potential benefits for human health,
especially on those diseases which currently have no cure or prevention, the
environment and the quality of life while at the same time they generate con-
cerns about equal potential for risks to health and the environment. Ethical con-
cerns and protection of fundamental rights from the upsurge of nano-enabled
materials that have no established potential long-term effects can give rise to
controversies that are inherent to the research process and to the uncertainties
