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Nano Safety Worries Scientists More Than Public

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the what-aren't-they-telling-us dept.

Nanotech Coward writes "The unknown human health and environmental impacts of nanotechnology are a bigger worry for scientists than for the public, according to a new report in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The new report was based on a national telephone survey of American households and a sampling of 363 leading U.S. nanotechnology scientists and engineers. It reveals that those with the most insight into a technology with enormous potential — and that is already emerging in hundreds of products — are unsure what health and environmental problems might be posed by the technology."

2 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. not surprising by leomekenkamp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well informed scientist see more possible causes for harm than the non-informed general public. This hardly comes as a surprise to me.

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    1. Re:not surprising by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well informed scientist see more possible causes for harm than the non-informed general public. This hardly comes as a surprise to me. Not always. Many times it's the other way around. Take, for example, genetically modified food. Most scientists working in this area see no harmful effects from GM food, yet many in the general public think GM food is going to kill them, cause cancer, or other such nonsense. Or human cloning. Many people in the general public are absolutely terrified of human cloning, yet I'd bet most scientists see no problem with this from a biotech standpoint, except for a few ethical considerations.

      It cuts both ways.
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