Nanotech nightmares

Do the risks of nanotechnology research outweigh the benefits? Discuss round two of this week's Dust-Up.

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From the Los Angeles Times

Oh wow, it is a shame when the attorneys start to quote science because they usually get it wrong. What the studies on zinc and titanium oxides have shown is that they allow for the end of the use of organic chemicals which produce free radicals. In future read the studie please before mouthing off

m abraham @ 12:38 PM PST, Feb 29, 2008
Response to Part 5: Those companies also stand to lose their profits, be punished and go out of business if they transgress. The industry has called for increases in funding for the EPA and NIOSH. We support giving the agencies the responsibilities to do their jobs and collect data so that they have facts. We are not, nor ever have been, proponents of regulating ourselves.

Aatish Salvi @ 2:34 PM PST, Feb 28, 2008
Response to Part 3: See comment above. Response to Part 4: The problem you state was caused by silver, not neccesarily nanoscale silver. The problem was not the fact that the silver was at the nanoscale it was the fact that it was coming off this bandage and entering this persons body through a wound. There are lots of problems with silver as a whole - this does not mean they are cause by nanotechnology.

Aatish Salvi @ 2:34 PM PST, Feb 28, 2008
In response to Part 2: The vast majority of nanotech applications involve nanoparticles bound to a solid or liquid. This means that they are significantly restricted in their mobility and have a hard time penetrating through the skin - as multiple studies on TiO2 have shown. However, when we are using a nanoparticle for drug delivery we can make sure it is free so that its ability to travel can help us treat disease.

Aatish Salvi @ 2:34 PM PST, Feb 28, 2008
In response to Part 1: Nanotech companies are subject to all the same regulations that any other chemical company or manufacturer is. TSCA, RCRA and other acts under the auspices of EPA and OSHA apply fully to nanotech companies.

Aatish Salvi @ 2:34 PM PST, Feb 28, 2008
A complement to Meredith Niles' third comment: Chemical & Engineering News revealed yesterday that "Explosion Injures Student: Accident involved nanostructured explosive materials" (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/email/html/cen_86_i09_8609news3.html)

Latest news about nanotech risks @ 6:41 AM PST, Feb 28, 2008
The problem with our government is that they let industry expose people and the commons to dangerous toxins. We are expected to accept this I believe they prefer we do not even know. Finally, we will be challenged to prove the products unsafe, instead of industry and government doing this scientifically and proving them safe before unleashing them on us. I believe nanotech is in some toothpastes as well.

DMS @ 5:58 PM PST, Feb 27, 2008
I think the risks will be impossible to predict and or assess because, like genetically engineered foods, this new technology has been foisted on the consumer without any safety studies. There will be no way to measure the effects as it is basically an open-ended experiment. If people get sick, no one will know why for many years. There will be the usual demand to prove it causation.

DMS @ 5:58 PM PST, Feb 27, 2008
Let's get one thing perfectly clear. I work at one of the top manufacturer's of medical and other industrial materials. This talk of best practices, responsibily, risk management, etc. is pure B.S. One line I recall top management said "the bottom line is still profit..." this was mentioned by several top management over the years. I watched these fantasy items that no one follows and variances are insane, and no one has to answer to them? For anyone who has not got their heads in there you know what I'm talking about, you can see this happening too.

HXH @ 3:40 PM PST, Feb 27, 2008
Hi zzz- the reason that they put them into sunscreens is purely cosmetic- it makes the sunscreens go on clear rather than white.

Meredith Niles @ 1:42 PM PST, Feb 27, 2008
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