Nanotechnology Oversight Recommended

18 March 2007

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is urging government officials to begin addressing health and safety issues posed by Nanotechnology products already on the market. Mark Greenwood, who works for the EPA, has helped to write a report calling for broad-based cooperation between government, science, and non-government organizations to create an oversight organization that discusses Nanoscale materials.

Most prior discussions of Nanotechnology over the past few years, claims the report, have focused on environmental laws and how they relate to particular Nanoscale materials, while little attention has focused on appropriate risk management for Nanotechnology.

The report recommends that three considerations form the bedrock of an effective Nanotechnology oversight system: risk assessment, reporting requirements and tools for managing risk. These three areas will have important policy implications that will help to determine what kind of Nanotechnology products and companies can succeed in the marketplace. Various stakeholders, both within and outside the government, will need to be involved to address the unique challenges posed by Nanotechnology.

An oversight system has huge implications, of course. It will determine who can and cannot become a player in the Nanotechnology marketplace. Thus the report argues that attention needs to be given as soon as possible towards the creation of an oversight system.

While Nanotechnology is an industry with its own intellectual property concerns, the reports maintains that there needs to be a level of transparency in the risk management phase. The public needs enough information to understand the risks involved in the kinds of technologies being developed. Ultimately, this will ensure that only the safest products make it to market.

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