Nanotechnology is "the branch of technology
that deals with dimensions and tolerances of
less than 100 nanometers, especially the
manipulation of individual atoms and
molecules" according to the Oxford English
Dictionary.
These materials are attractive to industry
and researchers since materials can take
on significant new properties at the nano
scale. For example insoluble substances may
dissolve or
non-electrical conducting materials may
start conducting electricity.
Nano technologies offer solutions to major
problems such as energy supply, pollutant
control, sustainability, better healthcare
and life quality. Cities and buildings can be
built using more efficient materials.
Lightweight matter sixteen times stronger
than steel offers amazing
possibilities for aviation and road
transport. For the first time, we are altering
the essential building blocks of life and
this opens both great opportunity and
significant risk.
The use of these nano-products in food may
entail new hazards but there are no
regulations in place
to monitor this area. In the United States,
for example, nanotech is not subject to any
special regulations and nano products need
not even be labeled.
Largely unnoticed, hundreds of products
containing nano-sized particles have already
reached the food and cosmetics market. These
include foods with nano food ingredients,
supplements, anti-wrinkle cosmetic creams,
food packaging and work surfaces that clean
themselves. See the Nanotechnology
consumer products inventory for a list of
products currently on the market.
This has been a silent revolution for the
food and cosmetic industry as products are
developed and marketed with little attention
from the mainstream media. We need to understand
what questions need to be asked regarding
this issue before meaningful answers can be
given.
The UK Royal Society recommended that
nanomaterials be regulated
as new chemicals and that research
laboratories and factories treat
nanomaterials "as if they were hazardous" and
that products containing nanomaterials be
subject to new safety testing requirements
prior to their commercial release. Yet
regulations world-wide still fail to make the
important distinction between materials in
their nanoscale and bulk form.
