Nanotechnology may be unsafe!

More research needs to be conducted,

they say...

Summary of the report:

• 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.
• 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.
• Ann Dowling, the Cambridge University professor who chaired the group
  
  behind the report, said: "Where particles are concerned, size really
  
  does matter.
• 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.
• In sunscreens, nanoparticles are used because they absorb and reflect UV
  
  rays while appearing transparent to the naked eye.
• Concerns surround nanoparticles because they may be inhaled or absorbed
  
  through the skin with unforeseen health consequences.
• 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.
• 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.
• "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.

Adopted from: http://www.newstarget.com/001564.html

Original source:



http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1272392,00.html