All we want for Christmas is nanotech risk assessment tools

Filed in archive Regulation on December 2, 2006

Dr. Andrew Maynard, Science Advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, and his co-authors outline a series of five grand challenges to nanotech risk assessment in a commentary in this week's Nature:

• Develop instruments to assess exposure to engineered nanomaterials in air and water, within the next 3-10 years.

• Develop and validate methods to evaluate the toxicity of engineered nanomaterials, within the next 5-15 years.

• Develop models for predicting the potential impact of engineered nanomaterials on the environment and human health, within the next 10 years.

• Develop robust systems for evaluating the health and environmental impact of engineered nanomaterials over their entire life, within the next 5 years.

• Develop strategic programs that enable relevant risk-focused research, within the next 12 months.

As you can see, it's not easy trying to regulate a technology when we don't even have adequate instruments to measure it and policies to govern it. (hat tip to softmachines.org)