Anyone who purchased clear sunscreen or wore stain-resistant pants during the holidays was probably enjoying the benefits of commercialized nanotechnology. While nanotech advances are exciting, some observers dangerously press for greater government oversight in the sector.
Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the molecular level, can create better materials, such as stronger metals and better paints. It also opens the door for self-replicating devices and particles so small that they may enter the bloodstream to help cure disease. This revolution, like any new technology, can be deployed for beneficial or nefarious purposes.
In a report released this week, environmental policy analyst J. Clarence Davies argued for greater regulation of nanotechnology. America’s current laws, he says, “either suffer from major shortcomings of legal authority, or from a gross lack of resources, or both.” The problem, according to Davies, is that current laws “provide a very weak basis for identifying and protecting the public from potential risk, especially as nanotechnologies become more complex in structure and function and the applications become more diverse.”
Of course, Davies also admits that “we know little about possible adverse effects of nanotechnology.”
Read more here.