Nanotechnology Project

Topics

Looking Ahead

News

  • news/archive March 10, 2011 Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Continue to Rise The most recent update to the Nanotechnology Consumer Product Inventory finds that over 1,300 manufacturer-identified nanotechnology-enabled consumer products have entered the marketplace to date.
  • news/archive November 4, 2010 Voluntary Initiatives, Regulation, and Nanotechnology Oversight A new PEN report provides the first ever analysis of voluntary initiatives to regulate nanotechnology. As nanotechnologies move forward, along with other emerging technologies, voluntary programs will play an important role in the governance portfolio available to the federal government as well as states and municipalities.
  • news/archive December 23, 2009 Project Director David Rejeski assesses the promises and perils of nanotechnology in The Environmental Forum Pretty much as predicted, the long awaited convergence of nanotechnology and biotechnology has arrived. Can environmental protection, still cleaning up the last Industrial Revolution, avoid the perils while realizing the promises of manufacturing at an atomic scale?
  • news/archive August 25, 2009 Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory now contains over 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled consumer products, reflecting the increasing use of tiny particles in everything from conventional products like non-stick cookware and lighter, stronger tennis racquets, to more unique items such as wearable sensors that monitor posture.
  • news/archive July 29, 2009 5 years on - a beacon or just a landmark? A new report from The Responsible Nano Forum marks the 5 year anniversary of the release of the seminal report from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties.
  • news/archive April 28, 2009 Former EPA Official Calls For New Environmental & Consumer Protection Agency Existing health and safety agencies are unable to cope with the risk assessment, standard setting and oversight challenges of advancing nanotechnology. In a landmark report, Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology, J. Clarence Davies highlights the need for a new agency to address current forms of pollution and to deal with the health and environmental impacts of the technically complex products promised by rapid 21st century scientific advances. video
  • news/archive February 26, 2009 Revisiting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 Today the U.S. House of Representatives began the process of re-examining the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. According to the the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, “The hearing will address critical gaps in the statute and explore how these gaps hinder effective chemical safety policy in the United States.” video
  • news/archive February 11, 2009 Stimulus Debate Highlights Need for Focus on Nanotech Risks The nearly $800 billion stimulus package being debated in Congress contains a number of measures intended to improve information technology, infrastructure and the energy economy in the United States – all areas that will be greatly aided by nanotechnology. Today, the House of Representatives passed legislation that makes the importance of understanding the possible risks posed by engineered nanomaterials a centerpiece of the goverment’s reauthorization of funding for nanotechnology research. The bill highlights the growing need to learn more about the possible environmental, health and safety dangers posed by some nanoscale materials.
  • news/archive January 28, 2009 World’s First Mandatory National Nanotech Requirement Pending Canada is reportedly planning in February to become the first nation in the world to require companies to detail their use of engineered nanomaterials. The information gathered under the requirement will be used to evaluate the risks of engineered nanomaterials and will help to develop appropriate safety measures to protect human health and the environment.
  • news/archive January 27, 2009 Ethical Evaluations of Nanotechnology Recent action in Congress to reauthorize the U.S. federal nanotechnology research program offers the chance to address the social and ethical issues concerning the emerging scientific field, experts say. “It is crucial to address social and ethical issues now as we consider both the substantial potential risks of nanotechnology and its possible significant contributions to our well-being and environmental sustainability,” says Ronald Sandler, Northeastern University philosophy professor and author of a new report released today by the Project.
  • news/archive January 14, 2009 Getting Your Daily Dose of Nano? The ability of the FDA to regulate the safety of dietary supplements using nanomaterials is severely limited by lack of information, lack of resources and the agency’s lack of statutory authority in certain critical areas, according to: A Hard Pill To Swallow: Barriers to Effective FDA Regulation of Nanotechnology-Based Dietary Supplements, a new report by former FDA officials William B. Schultz and Lisa Barclay.
  • news/archive December 10, 2008 Panel Blasts Federal Nanotech Risk Research Strategy A National Research Council committee today issued a highly critical report describing serious shortfalls in the Bush administration’s strategy to better understand the environment, health and safety risks of nanotechnology and to effectively manage those potential risks. The report calls for a significantly revamped national strategic plan that will minimize potential risks so that innovation will flourish and society will reap nanotechnology’s benefits.
  • news/archive October 14, 2008 The Frontiers of Nanotechnology The future of how the world communicates, and how we power our lives, will likely come from the same source: nanotechnology. According to the latest NanoFrontiers newsletter and Trips to the Nanofrontier podcast, nanotechnology will be central to developing and using new electronics and energy technologies in the 21st Century. audio
  • news/archive September 30, 2008 Nanotech and Synbio: Americans Don’t Know What’s Coming A groundbreaking poll has found that almost half of U.S. adults have heard nothing about nanotechnology, and nearly nine in 10 Americans say they have heard just a little or nothing at all about the emerging field of synthetic biology. This new insight into limited public awareness of emerging technologies comes on the cusp of a major leadership change in the nation’s capital. video
  • news/archive September 8, 2008 Nanotechnology and the FDA: Size Matters! In July 2007 the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued its Nanotechnology Task Force Report. This report acknowledged that nanoscale materials potentially could be used in most product types regulated by the agency and that those materials present challenges complicated by the fact that properties relevant to product safety and effectiveness may change as size varies within the nanoscale.