Does The US Government Have An Adequate Risk Strategy For Nanotechnology Research and Commercialisation

Does the U.S. government have an adequate risk research strategy to ensure that nanotechnology is being commercialized safely? Today, the government will issue its prioritized nanotechnology risk research needs. These new priorities are drawn from the federal government's September 2006 report, Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Needs for Engineered Nanoscale Materials.

Andrew D. Maynard, chief science advisor for the Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, is available to comment on the government's new revised nanotechnology risk research priorities. He is one of the foremost international experts on addressing possible nanotechnology risks and developing safe nanotechnologies. Maynard's Ph.D. is in ultrafine aerosol analysis from Cambridge University (UK). His recent Congressional and public testimonies are available online at http://www.nanotechproject.org.

Nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $50 billion in manufactured goods in 2006. By 2014, an estimated $2.6 trillion in manufactured goods globally will use nanotechnology, or 15 percent of total global output. An exciting new field of research and development, nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacture things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers. For a look at over 500 nanotechnology consumer products, log on to http://www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts.