Nano Tech. Spurs Continued Health Concerns

* * Beatles-Beatles writes to tell us Yahoo is reporting that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is working hard to develop guidelines for working with nanomaterials. There have been no proven health risks due to nanomaterials but Pat Roy Mooney, executive director of the ETC Group (an Ottawa-based non-profit that studies the impact of technology on people and the environment) was quoted saying that "No one knows, and that's the problem." Some feel that continued research and testing is needed to understand the nano-age before continuing to jump with both feet.

Comments

Re:Hmm... where have I seen this before...

[Bahumat]

Heh. I'm a professional in the Loss Control industry. It's scary how many people want to say "Well, we don't know if it is a hazard yet, so let's not let that slow us down! If it's a hazard we'll fix it after!"

As far as nanoscale materials go, many of them are rather horrific. Turns out that gold, one of the least reactive metals, at nano-scale particles start to bind and do all sorts of nasty things within the body. Nothing like heavy metal salts to make your day, mm-mm!

And yes, many proposed nano-scale materials present threats to the health of the respiratory system equivalent to or beyond asbestos. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson has some great views of health complications.