Public Impacts of Nanotechnology
Going through a stack of material to read, I came across the May 1, 2006 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, with a cover story on "Nanomaterials: Producers join with others for responsible use" (pp. 10-18).
Nanoparticles occur naturally, and have been around for decades in manufactured products and as products of combustion. But the purposeful engineering and large-scale production of well-defined nanomaterials - based on discoveries in academic laboratories - is just beginning. Concerns are arising about whether these very small particles will infiltrate and injure lung and other tissue, especially once they are out of relatively controlled laboratory or manufacturing facilities and into the general environment.
Although there are as yet no well-documented cases of problems arising, this is viewed as the "chance of a lifetime" to investigate the environmental health and safety (EHS) and ethical, legal, or societal issues (ELSI) before a major new technology takes off. Research and education on EHS and ELSI are about 7% of the total budget of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
This situation is a striking example of how academic researchers can find themselves working together with industrial scientists and engineers, government regulators, environmentalists, and consumer advocates to address a technology that holds much promise for good, but also raises important public safety concerns. It also should bring together - within academia - chemists and materials scientists, physiologists, environmental scientists, lawyers, and ethicists to engage in a broad interdisciplinary fashion with an important public issue. The teaching as well as research opportunities are obvious.