http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/nanotechnology-harmful-or-benign/story/nanotech-health-safety/
Excerpt:
"Interviews with researchers and regulators show that answers to these health and safety questions are not likely to come anytime soon. That’s a troubling prospect for many public health officials, who question the wisdom of allowing businesses to market these nanomaterials without first requiring proof that they do no harm. But nanomaterials are now either produced or used by many, if not most, of the nation’s largest businesses to make some of their products. These companies have used their lobbying clout not only to beat back efforts to regulate nanomaterials, but also to counter attempts by government agencies to find out what, exactly, is being used. Federal efforts to get a handle on the safety and health risks posed by nanoparticles have also been hampered by disagreement over how to test them; which ones to test first; and a federal mandate that places developing a robust nanotechnology industry over ensuring public safety.
“It’s complex,” said Andrew Maynard, director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center and an expert in emerging technologies. “We’ve done an awful lot of research over the last few years. We’ve made some breakthroughs, but we are still struggling to get our hands around what makes nanomaterials harmful and how to make them safe.”
–Andrew Maynard
University of Michigan
Risk Science Center
"The difficulty is exacerbated by the sheer number of nano-sized chemicals. There are thousands of types, each with myriad applications. Nano-silver, for example, can be embedded in children’s toys, textiles, crops and appliances to kill harmful microorganisms, or it can be used as a disinfectant spray. Nanoscale titanium dioxide is used as a pigment in sunscreens, and in white powdered-sugar frostings, as well as for water treatment and other uses. The strength and heat-conducting qualities of carbon nanotubes make them valuable when rolled up as tiny pipes and used in computer screens or as bone replacement and for strengthening materials from tennis rackets to airplanes.
J. Clarence Davies, who helped create the EPA and wrote the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, has long sounded the alarm on nanotechnology.
“The gap between the problems that exist and the problems that government actually can identify is growing,” Davies said. “On nano, the rate of innovation is extraordinary, at both the basic science level and the applied incorporation in products level. Industry is saying ‘don’t’ regulate us,” and Congress is anti-regulatory."
"The risk from nanotechnology has become a sensitive topic. In 2011, the EPA’s inspector general drafted a report entitled, “EPA Cannot Effectively Assess or Manage Nanomaterial Risk.” Records show that after a high-ranking EPA official objected to the wording, the watchdog agency changed the name of the report. It was released in late December 2011 as the less alarming, “EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterial Risks More Effectively.” The substance of the report was much the same. The report noted, “We found that EPA does not currently have sufficient information or processes to effectively manage the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials. EPA has the statutory authority to regulate nanomaterials but currently lacks the environmental and human health exposure and toxicological data to do so effectively.”
The study also reported that the EPA’s efforts are hampered by reliance on industry-submitted data and said that its voluntary program, in which businesses were asked to provide data on their nanomaterials, was a flop. Few businesses cooperated. The IG also recommended that the EPA promote public awareness about nanomaterials. “The agency as a whole should provide for a more transparent overall message [about nanomaterials], and it could better use its website to do so.” The watchdogs wrote that the EPA should “keep American people well informed on “nanomaterials“ benefits, and risks, exposures and EPA’s regulatory approach.”
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The writer:
Sheila Kaplan is a regular contributor to the Investigative Reporting Workshop’s health and environmental coverage, including our Toxic Influence series and a report on Toxic Taps around the country.
She is also a Lab Fellow with the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University and a prize-winning investigative reporter. She is a former lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, specializing in the intersection of politics, money and public health. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, msnbc.com. Discover magazine, The Nation, The New Republic, Salon and U.S. News & World Report.
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