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Maria Powell - Learn more about risks related to nanotechnology and find resources on how to safely work with nanomaterials
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Templated assembly at the nanoscale creates the potential for a broad array of beneficial technologies, but has also prompted concern about society's capacity to manage processes of rapid technological change. Many expect nanotechnology to affect the lives of ordinary citizens as profoundly as did the Industrial Revolution. Chief among the concerns expressed by lay citizens who participated in Thrust 4 consensus conferences and Nano Cafes are the potential environmental and health risks of emerging nanotechnologies, the adequacy of government regulations to address these risks, and the existence of opportunities for citizens to engage in these issues and influence decision-making. NSEC Thrust 4 will address these key societal issues through building citizen and government agency capacity to respond to the social implications of nanotechnology, analyzing and influencing state and federal policies related to nanotechnology, and addressing key risk assessment data gaps through research on the toxicology and environmental fate of engineered nanomaterials.
The overall goals of this project are: (1) to develop effective mechanisms by which NSEC researchers, citizens, regulatory agencies, media, and policymakers can work collaboratively to address potential environmental and health risks related to nanotechnologies in proactive ways; (2) to develop sound knowledge for more informed decision-making by NSECs, citizens, regulators, and legislators; and (3) to directly address scientific and sociological issues germane to the safe and efficacious application of nanotechnologies. To accomplish these goals, Thrust 4 includes several integrated projects, including: developing mechanisms by which lay citizens can engage with NSEC scientists, policymakers, and media about nanotechnology development; identifying key social and technical unknowns and uncertainties that challenge nanotechnology risk assessors and exploring what factors shape these data gaps; engaging in scientific research that addresses several critical environmental and toxicological unknowns and outlining these gaps--especially those of heightened societal concern--in a manner accessible to the public; and developing environmentally and societally benign nanomaterials based on findings from toxicological and environmental fate research.
Read more about the risks of Nanotechnology.
