Nanotechnology Raises The Spectre Of Asbestos Controversy
The “huge lack of knowledge” regarding the impact of nanotechnologies on health and the working environment has been condemned in Denmark, with many comparing the hazards of nanoparticles with asbestos.
The nanotechnology revolution is booming in that country but the National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA) has for some time been expressing concerns at the lack of research on safety in this area.
The LO union has also demanded further research and the establishment of a national centre on nano-safety.
Their website explains: "Engineered Nanoparticles (ENP) are increasingly produced for use in a wide range of industrial and consumer products. Yet it is known that exposure to some types of particles can cause severe health effects. Therefore it is essential to ascertain whether exposure to ENP can lead to possible health risks for workers and consumers. We have formed a consortium of well-known scientists from European Universities and Research Institutes, with over 100 publications in the field of Nanotoxicology. Our aim is to develop an approach for the Risk Assessment of ENP (ENPRA)."
The ENPRA project is a major new European Framework 7 project to develop and implement a novel integrated approach for engineered nanoparticle (ENP) risk assessment. The 3 ½ year project is led by the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) in Edinburgh. Worth €3.7 million, it harnesses the knowledge and capabilities of 15 European and 6 US partners including three US Federal Agencies: EPA, NIOSH and NIH-NIEHS.
The NFA’s research manager, Otto Melchior Poulsen, said that test animals used for research in his institute on carbon nanotubes got pleural cancer, a disease many workers exposed to asbestos also caught.
He said: “We can, on a scientific basis, draw a parallel between the nano boom and the asbestos scandal.”
Ejner Holst, LO secretary and member of the NFA's management, said that he was afraid the same mistakes would be made as with asbestos, which was not banned “until corpses were on the table”.
The first report of the project looking into developing risk assessment for nanotechnology production can be found in the E-Library Database and was issued February 2010, causing the Danish government environment protection agency to ban, on 16 April, a spray sold by NanoCover. This is one of the leaders of the Scandinavian nanotechnological market which has already had to remove from the market, in 2008, a self-cleaning product for windows containing nano titanium oxide.
The first newsletter, which explains in detail the problems associated with nanotechnology and health and includes The Exposure-Dose-Response paradigm, can also be downloaded from the E-Library. Simply look under the category of Nanotechnology when searching.
The ENPRA website can be found here
Source: Croners / NFA / ENPRA
