- New laws are needed to ensure that vanishingly small
particles made by the nanotechnology industry do not pose a threat to humans
or the environment, experts said yesterday.
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- A government-backed report into nanotechnology from the
Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, Britain's most prestigious
scientific body, found that while nanotechnology is expected to bring about
significant advances in healthcare, transport and electronics, nanoparticles
could be a cause for concern.
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- Ann Dowling, the Cambridge University professor who chaired
the group behind the report, said: "Where particles are concerned,
size really does matter. Nanoparticles can behave quite differently from
larger particles of the same material. There is evidence that at least
some manufactured nanoparticles are more toxic than the same chemical in
its larger form, but mostly we just don't know. We don't know what their
impact is on either humans or the environment."
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- Nanotechnology, which describes the manufacture of devices
and materials measuring billionths of a metre across, is already used to
make nanoparticles for sunscreens and cosmetics. The particles are typically
made by reducing lumps of material to an ultrafine powder. In sunscreens,
nanoparticles are used because they absorb and reflect UV rays while appearing
transparent to the naked eye.
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- Concerns surround nanoparticles because they may be inhaled
or absorbed through the skin with unforeseen health consequences.
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- While studies have yet to find that nanoparticles in
sunscreens are absorbed deep into the skin, each time we take a breath
of air, we inhale mil lions of nanoparticles, in the form of pollutants
from vehicle exhausts and industrial emissions. Small particles from vehicle
pollution have been linked to a rise in cases of heart and lung conditions.
As the nanotechnology industry grows, some experts believe we could become
more exposed to airborne nanoparticles.
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- The report recommends that because they can behave so
differently from known materials, nanoparticles, often defined as particles
measuring less than 100 billionths of a metre wide, and nanotubes, sheets
of molecules wrapped into tiny tubes, should be treated as new substances
under European and UK safety legislation.
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- The group also called for an independent scientific body
to be set up to assess the safety of novel nanoparticles as they become
available. Manufacturers should be obliged to carry out safety assessments.
Products containing nanoparticles or nanotubes should be labelled.
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- To address the lack of understanding of the potential
threats of nanoparticles, Prof Dowling called for the government to fund
£6m of research into their toxicity and how they may build up in
bodies and the environment.
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- James Wilsdon, head of strategy at Demos, an independent
thinktank, said the report called for a public debate on nanotechnology.
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- "Unless a meaningful debate gets under way soon,
nanotechnology has the potential to turn into the next GM, with scientists
forced to defend themselves against an anti-science backlash. The kind
of health scares which turned GM technology into 'Frankenfoods' could easily
erupt around nanoparticles, which are already in everyday consumer products
such as sunscreen and cosmetics."
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1272468,00.html
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