When in doubt, consumers blame nanotechnology

Filed in archive News on June 2, 2006

An article entitled Science's Tiny, Big Unknown in yesterday's L.A. Times proves what many nanotech advocates have feared: the recall of Magic Nano bathroom cleanser, which caused respiratory problems in some users, has tainted nanotechnology even though we now know the product didn't even contain nanoparticles. The article opens with:

Magic Nano was billed as a miraculous solution for household drudgery, able to repel dirt and moisture from bathroom surfaces through the wonders of nanotechnology.

Instead, the spray-on ceramic sealant quickly has become an emblem of the growing global fears over incorporating artificial particles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair into such everyday products as golf balls, sunscreen and clothing.

Three days after Magic Nano went on sale in Europe in March, it was pulled from store shelves because at least 110 customers reported symptoms including racking coughs, chest pain and difficulty breathing.

"When I started to feel dizzy and nauseous, I got scared," said Carola Sennmann, a 37-year-old Hairdresser in the German city of Goettingen, who felt flu-like symptoms within 30 minutes of spraying Magic Nano in her shower.

When she began to gasp for breath, she was rushed to the emergency room and suffered a sleepless, fevered night before the symptoms subsided. Doctors were baffled. Sennmann, though, had her own diagnosis:

"I blame it on nanotechnology."

Not until the sixth paragraph of the article is the reader informed that Magic Nano in fact contained no nanoparticles. Many readers probably stopped reading by then, and were left with the impression that nanoparticles caused Sennmann's illness.

Sensationalism and alarmism are too often the trademarks of journalism, exploiting fears rather than informing or raising intelligent questions. This article unfortunately follows that trend.