Friends of the Earth

Nanotechnology, climate and energy: over-heated promises and hot air?

by Andrew Maynard November 16, 2010

Friends of the Earth have just released a new report challenging claims that nanotechnology will lead to greener, more energy-efficient technologies, lower-impact technologies. I’ve only had the chance to skim through the report so far, and so don’t have detailed comments on it.  But on my initial skim a number of things struck me:

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The safety of nanotechnology-based sunscreens – some reflections

by Andrew Maynard July 18, 2010

A few weeks ago, I set Friends of the Earth a challenge – What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? The challenge came out of an article from FoE on nanomaterials and sunscreens, which I subsequently critiqued on 2020 Science.  Georgia Miller [...]

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Just how risky can nanoparticles in sunscreens be? Friends of the Earth respond

by Georgia Miller June 15, 2010

Last week, I posed Friends of the Earth a challenge – “What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens?”  Georgia Miller of FoE Australia and Ian Illuminato of FoE in the US have kindly provided a detailed response.  Rather than just keep this [...]

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Just how risky could nanoparticles in sunscreens be?

by Andrew Maynard June 8, 2010

Following up from my previous post, here’s an open question to Friends of the Earth: What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? What I am interested in is a number – a probability of a specific human health impact being caused by [...]

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Friends of the Earth come down hard on nanotechnology – are they right?

by Andrew Maynard June 8, 2010

Friends of the Earth (FoE) do not like nanoparticle-based sunscreens.  This has been evident for some years – back in 2006 the organization published the report Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks, and every year since then they have had something to say on the subject. This year’s web-based piece leaves now doubt [...]

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