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Nanotechnology Requires Immediate Changes in EPA |
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Regulatory oversight of nanotechnology is urgently needed and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should act now, reports a new study released today. In EPA and Nanotechnology: Oversight for the 21st Century, former EPA assistant administrator for policy, planning and evaluation, J. Clarence (Terry) Davies, provides a roadmap for a new EPA to better handle the challenges of nanotechnology. New nanomaterials and nanotechnology products are entering the market each week, and an adequate oversight system is necessary to identify and minimize any adverse effects of nano materials and products on health or the environment. Davies’ report sets out an agenda for creating an effective oversight system as nanotechnology advances—the technology that some have hailed as “the next industrial revolution.”
“This new report seeks to encourage EPA, Congress, and others to create an intelligent oversight approach that empowers EPA and promotes investment and innovation in new nanotechnology products and processes,” said David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Wilson Center (PEN). As both the chair and ranking minority member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology stated last year, “Nanotechnology is an area of research that could add billions of dollars to the US economy, but that won’t happen if it is shrouded in uncertainty about its [environmental, health and safety] consequences. ”
Catalysis
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MEMS
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Nano Devices
Nanofibres
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Quantum Dots
Safety of Nanotech
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Self-Assembly
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