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Getting It Right the First Time
Author(s) -
BALBUS JOHN M.,
FLORINI KAREN,
DENISON RICHARD A.,
WALSH SCOTT A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1371.027
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , business , variety (cybernetics) , hazard , risk analysis (engineering) , investment (military) , scale (ratio) , computer science , political science , philosophy , linguistics , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , politics , law
Nanotechnology, the design and manipulation of materials at the atomic scale, may well revolutionize many of the ways our society manufactures products, produces energy, and treats diseases. Innovative nanotechnology products are already reaching the market in a wide variety of consumer products. Some of the observed properties of nanomaterials call into question the adequacy of current methods for determining hazard and exposure, and for controlling resulting risks. Given the limitations of existing regulatory tools and policies, two distinct kinds of initiatives are urgently needed: first, a major increase in the federal investment nanomaterial risk research, and second, rapid development and implementation of voluntary standards of care pending development of adequate regulatory safeguards. The U.S. government should increase federal funding for nanomaterial risk research under the National Nanotechnology Initiative to at least $100 million annually for the next several years. Several voluntary programs are currently at various stages of evolution, though the eventual outputs of each of these are still far from clear. Ultimately, effective regulatory safeguards, harmonized globally, are necessary to provide a level playing field for industry while adequately protecting human health and the environment.