Nanotechnology

What was worrying us about nanotechnology safety seven years ago?

by Andrew Maynard August 9, 2011

In 2004, the first International Symposium on Occupational Health Implications of Nanomaterials was held in Buxton in the UK.  Seven years later, I’m preparing for a discussion panel at the fifth meeting in this very successful community-led series (being held this week in Boston MA), and looking through the research recommendations we made at the [...]

Read the full article →

Seven challenges to regulating “sophisticated materials”

by Andrew Maynard July 22, 2011

The materials that most current regulations were designed to handle are pretty simple by today’s standards. Sure they can do some nasty things to the environment or your body if handled inappropriately. And without a doubt some of the risks associated with these “simple” materials are not yet well understood – especially when it comes [...]

Read the full article →

Nanotechnology – has the UK dropped the nano-ball?

by Andrew Maynard July 8, 2011

I must confess to being rather saddened this morning to read Roger Highfield’s New Scientist blog on the state of nanotechnology in the UK.  Hot on the heels of reports that the company Nanoco is threatening to leave Britain for more fertile grounds, it left me wondering what has happened to the promise of ten [...]

Read the full article →

Don’t define nanomaterials – new commentary in Nature and an early draft

by Andrew Maynard July 6, 2011

One of the problems with publishing in journals like Nature is that it can get a little pricey for people to read your work if they (or their organization) don’t subscribe.  For instance, if you want to read the commentary I’ve just had published on defining engineered nanomaterials for regulatory purposes, you are facing a [...]

Read the full article →

A nanotechnology regulation hat trick from the US federal government

by Andrew Maynard June 10, 2011

It must be Nanotechnology Regulation week in Washington DC.  Yesterday, two federal agencies and the White House released documents that grapple with the effective regulation of products that depend on engineered nanomaterials. In a joint memorandum, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the United [...]

Read the full article →

Responsible development of… Unobtanium?

by Andrew Maynard June 4, 2011

I thought I’d post this spoof presentation for the fun of it on the responsible development of “unobtainium”, which seems to have some remarkable similarities with some other emerging technologies: If you’re a little mystified, blame David Berube – who encouraged the initial idea, and embellished it in his own presentation at a recent conference [...]

Read the full article →

International Standards Organization guidelines for evaluating nanomaterial risks – are they any good?

by Andrew Maynard May 26, 2011

In June 2005, the chairman and CEO of DuPont, together with the President of the Environmental Defense Fund, co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “Let’s Get nanotech Right”.  The piece called for broad multi-stakeholder collaborations to help identify and address potential health, safety and environmental issues arising from the development and commercialization [...]

Read the full article →

Australian Education Union advises against using nanoparticle-based sunscreens in schools

by Andrew Maynard May 22, 2011

Last week, the Victoria branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) passed a resolution recommending that “workplaces use only nanoparticle-free sunscreen” and that sunscreens used by members on children are selected from those “highlighted in the Safe Sunshine Guide produced by Friends of the Earth” as being nano-free.  The AEU also resolved to provide the [...]

Read the full article →

A new look for the US National Nanotechnology Initiative

by Andrew Maynard May 16, 2011

A few weeks ago, the US National Nanotechnology Initiative website – www.nano.gov – underwent a much-needed facelift.  The NNI’s web portal was creaky when I was part of the Initiative several years ago now.  And it’s somewhat ironic that the world’s leading interagency initiative on one of the most prominent cutting edge technology platforms has [...]

Read the full article →

Why we don’t need a regulatory definition for nanomaterials

by Andrew Maynard April 15, 2011

I‘ve just posted a piece over on the Risk Science Blog on regulatory definitions of engineered nanomaterials.  What may come as a surprise to many readers given my comments over the years is the title – “Why we don’t need a regulatory definition for nanomaterials”!  Have I flipped, lost my senses, or what? As you [...]

Read the full article →

Technology innovation and human health risk – rethinking the intersection

by Andrew Maynard March 10, 2011

As anyone who has followed my work over the past few years will know, I have a deep interest in the potential benefits and risks associated with emerging technologies, and in particular whether we can swing the balance towards benefits by thinking more innovatively about risk and how we address it. So it’s not surprising [...]

Read the full article →

Nanotechnology safety – a new video blog from the ASME Nanotechnology Institute

by Andrew Maynard March 4, 2011

Back in December 2009, I rode the Acela Express up to New York from Washington DC for the day to record one of a series of nanotechnology podcasts for the ASME – the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The podcast was to be part of a new educational outreach initiative on all aspects of nanotechnology [...]

Read the full article →

The art of regulating nanotechnologies

by Andrew Maynard February 26, 2011

The recently published International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies has a rather unconventional cover image. But it’s one that I must confess I am rather pleased with. The image is a photo of a piece of Murano glass that I picked up several years ago while visiting Venice. At the time I was participating in a [...]

Read the full article →

Obama’s 2012 budget does not bode well for safe & productive workplaces

by Andrew Maynard February 19, 2011

In one of the more bizarre yet less publicized proposed cuts in the 2012 Obama budget, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Centers are on the chopping block.  Bizarre, because the move is directly counter to Obama’s push on innovation and education as drivers of economic growth. The Education and [...]

Read the full article →

International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies – free access to first and last chapters

by Andrew Maynard February 15, 2011

Here’s an offer I’m sure you won’t be able to resist: The opportunity to read the first and last chapters of the just-published International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies – for free! Due to the farsightedness of my co-editors, the publishers have agreed to let authors post their chapters on their institutional web pages. So if [...]

Read the full article →

The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond

by Andrew Maynard February 9, 2011

Cross-posted from The Risk Science Blog Several months ago, I was asked by a colleague if I fancied co-authoring a review on nanotoxicology for a copy of Toxicological Sciences celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Society of Toxicology (coming out later this year). Fool that I am, I agreed.  Interestingly though, as I and my [...]

Read the full article →

Nanotechnology – Unplugged

by Andrew Maynard February 1, 2011

Next Tuesday, we’ll be launching a new series of occasional discussions on contemporary public health risk issues at the University of Michigan Risk Science Center.  And the first topic is – no surprises – nanotechnology. Under the tagline “No PowerPoint, no script; just stimulating conversation”, the Unplugged series will be engaging experts in lively conversation [...]

Read the full article →

Nanotechnology – what web resources do you find most helpful?

by Andrew Maynard January 24, 2011

Over at the Risk Science Center blog, I have posted a request for help on web-based nanotechnology resources. Given that 2020 Science has such a nano-savvy readership, I thought I would cross-post the request here. If you have any suggestions on useful websites dealing with nanotechnology – especially those describing potential and actual applications – [...]

Read the full article →

NOVA Making Stuff, nanomaterials and a web-lactating goat

by Andrew Maynard January 15, 2011

Next week sees the debut of the PBS science program NOVA’s new series Making Stuff – a four part special “exploring the materials that will shape our future”, hosted by NY Times technology columnist David Pogue. You may recall that I expressed some reservations over the program’s approach to bioengineered materials a few weeks back [...]

Read the full article →

Nanoparticle Toxicity dropped from the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report

by Andrew Maynard January 12, 2011

As I report on the Risk Science Blog, the latest iteration of the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report has dropped “Nanoparticle Toxicity” as an emerging and significant risk.  Instead, the far more generic “Threats from New Technologies” takes its place. This is a welcome move – but I do have some reservations. Certainly, identifying [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →