Date: Jan. 25, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Health and Environmental Effects of Nanomaterials Remain Uncertain;
Cohesive Research Plan Needed to Help Avoid Potential Risks From Rapidly Evolving Technology
Nanoscale engineering manipulates materials at the molecular level to create structures with unique and useful properties -- materials that are both very strong and very light, for example. Many of the products containing nanomaterials on the market now are for skin care and cosmetics, but nanomaterials are also increasingly being used in products ranging from medical therapies to food additives to electronics. In 2009, developers generated $1 billion from the sale of nanomaterials, and the market for products that rely on these materials is expected to grow to $3 trillion by 2015.
The committee that wrote the report found that over the last seven years there has been considerable effort internationally to identify research needs for the development and safe use of nanotechnology, including those of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which coordinates
Because the number of products containing nanoscale materials is expected to explode, and future exposure scenarios may not resemble those of today, selecting target materials to study on the basis of existing market size -- as is the practice now -- is problematic. To help guide research, the committee noted the following four research categories, which should be addressed within five years:
· identify and quantify the nanomaterials being released and the populations and environments being exposed;
· understand processes that affect both potential hazards and exposure;
· examine nanomaterial interactions in complex systems ranging from subcellular to ecosystems; and
· support an adaptive research and knowledge infrastructure for accelerating progress and providing rapid feedback to advance research.
While surveying the existing resources for research, the committee acknowledged a gap between funding and the level of activity required to support the committee's strategy. The committee concluded that any reduction in the current funding level of approximately $120 million per year over the next five years for health and environmental risk research by federal agencies would be a setback to nanomaterials risk research. Moreover, additional modest resources from public, private, and international initiatives are needed in critical areas -- informatics, nanomaterial characterization, benchmarking nanomaterials, characterization of sources, and development of networks for supporting collaborative research -- to derive maximum strategic value from the research investments.
Implementation of the strategy should also include the integration of domestic and international participants involved in nanotechnology-related research, including the NNI, federal agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and the academic community. The committee said that the current structure of the NNI -- which has only coordinating functions across federal agencies and no top-down budgetary or management authority to direct nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety research -- hinders its accountability for effective implementation. In addition, there is concern that dual and potentially conflicting roles of the NNI, such as developing and promoting nanotechnology while identifying and mitigating risks that arise from its use, impede application and evaluation of health and environmental risk research. To carry out the research strategy effectively, a clear separation of management and budgetary authority and accountability between promoting nanotechnology and assessing potential environmental and safety risks is essential.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering,
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Pre-publication copies of A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
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NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
and
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Committee to Develop a Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials
Jonathan M. Samet (chair)
Professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair
Department of Preventive Medicine
Director
Institute for Global Health
Tina Bahadori
Managing Director
Long-Range Research Initiative
American Chemistry Council
Jurron Bradley
Clean Energy Market Manager
BASF Corp.
Seth Coe-Sullivan
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
QD Vision Inc.
Vicki L. Colvin
Vice Provost for Research, and
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Edward D. Crandall
Kenneth T. Norris Chair in Medicine;
Chair
Department of Medicine
Richard A. Denison
Senior Scientist
Environmental Defense Fund
William H. Farland
Senior Vice President for Research, and
Professor
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
Martin Fritts
Senior Prinicipal Scientist
SAIC-Frederick Inc.
Philip K. Hopke
Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and
Director
Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science
James E. Hutchison
Lokey-Harrington Professor of Chemistry
Rebecca D. Klaper
Associate Professor
School of Freshwater Sciences
Gregory V. Lowry
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Andrew D. Maynard
Director
Gunter Oberdorster
Professor of Toxicology
Department of Environmental Medicine
Kathleen M. Rest
Executive Director
Mark J. Utell
Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine, and
Director
Occupational and Environmental Medicine
David B. Warheit
Research Fellow
Haskell Laboratory
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and
Mark R. Wiesner
James L. Meriam Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Eileen Abt
Study Director