I should warn you in advance – this is an interactive blog – there’s something I want from you!  I have a question – where do ordinary people go to get information on nanotechnology safety?

Feeling a little lazy I thought I would get you – the loyal 2020 Science readership – to help me out here.  Below are twenty questions on nanotechnology safety provided by folks on Twitter and FaceBook (okay so I’m using the term “normal people” in its widest sense).  What I would like is for readers to let me know which websites they feel best answer the questions.  This is how it’s going to work:

1. Pick a question – any question –  from the list below.
2. Do some Googling (you can use another search engine if you fancy).
3. Find a website that provides a decent answer (in your opinion) to the selected question.
4. Post the question number, the link, and anything else you would like to say, in the comments area of this post.
5. Go back to step 1 and repeat until hungry/thirsty/bored.

I’m curious to see whether people really can get satisfactory answers to their questions.  And if they can, which web resources seem to do the best job.  If enough people participate, I’ll post the results later.

So please pitch in – it’ll be fun, honest!

Cheers,

Andrew

And before I go – a big thank you to everyone who send me a question.  Great job.

_________________________

The Questions:

1. What sort of nano budget does FDA have?
2. With something like nanosilver, is it possible to design out the hazard while keeping the “benefits”?
3. What are some of the most interesting nanoparticles found in nature (not manufactured in the lab)?
4. When will we know if it’s safe enough? I understand toxicity eg nanotubes. Do we think we can mitigate? What is safe enough?
5. Given the nano-size of the particles, are there any effective respirator filters to guard against inhalation?
6. What do you feel the repercussions are for extended life through utilization of nanotechnology?
7. How are safety tests carried out in nano tech?
8. Seems that (nano)tech is moving v.fast. Is there a risk that results of safety testing will be out-of-date as soon as printed? How to keep up pace?
9. Is it possible/ necessary to regulate the use of materials which don’t yet exist?
10. We all want safety decisions to be informed by sound science, yet decisions must be made (indeed are being made) now, in most cases with relatively little useful data. What’s the soundest way to approach such decision making?
11. Are their any lessons learned (societal/ethical issues) from GM foods that could be applied to the engineering or mechanical manipulation of foods through nanotechnology?
12. What should consumers know about nano-foods that labels won’t tell them?
13. Nanotech pervades all sectors and there is a huge range in riskiness between the applications. How can we develop a meaningful triage system to prioritize sectors, product classes, products and materials with respect to safety?
14. How will we deal with imported nano products and how will we know they are nano?
15. What is the risk of NOT developing nanotech (in health care, environmental protection, economic development)
16. What is the risk overall? Technology has not made us necessarily healthier and happier – although life expectancy has undeniable risen. Will the advances in 100 sectors be nullified by one “bad sector” (say nano use in weapons)?
17. We may need new bioassays. Can they be designed to simultaneously address animal welfare issues? Can they become models for use in non-nano contexts? Can there development be justified, financed and sped up on that argument?
18. What is the difference between nanotech, biotech and synthetic biology?
19. Is there sufficient attention to the “soft science” of safety research? Governance, ethics, public relations, process research, organizational research, etc?
20. The problem I have with the whole issue is that nanotech is not a “single” field, like polymers or vaccines, drugs or pesticides, say. Instead it’s a vast area of sci-tech defined rather arbitrarily by the size of the entities/particles involved. We need some way to ensure policy makers are not forced into a corner where they throw a blanket over all nanotech. How can that be achieved?
21. How do we assess long term impacts in short term safety tests & decide it is safe enough?
22. Who is accountable if we do miss long term impacts?
23. What % of gov and business budget should be spent on safety?
24. How do we get companies to share their safety data to add to the body of evidence on safety?
25. When will 2020 Science learn to count?  (my apologies – realized after posting that I had missed four questions!)