Welcome To The Bizarre And Mind Boggling Nano-World!

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Imagine a medical device that travels through the human body to seek out and destroy small clusters of cancerous cells before they can spread. Or a box no larger than a sugar cube that contains the entire contents of a Library?

Nanotechnology - What is it?

Nanotechnology is an emerging science in which new materials and tiny structures are built atom-by-atom, or molecule-by-molecule, instead of the more conventional approach of sculpting parts from pre-existing materials. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, roughly the width of three or four atoms. The average human hair is about 25,000 nanometers wide.

Nanotechnology, the design and manipulation of materials at the atomic scale, may well revolutionise many of the ways our society manufactures products, produces energy, and treats diseases. Hundreds of large and small nanotechnology companies are developing a wide variety of materials for use in electronics, medical diagnostic tools and therapies, construction materials, personal care products, paints and coatings, environmental cleanup, energy production and conservation, environmental sensors, and many other important applications.

A key understanding of nanotechnology is that it offers not just better products, but a vastly improved manufacturing process. A computer can make copies of data files - essentially as many copies as you want at little or no cost. It may be only a matter of time until the building of products becomes as cheap as the copying of files on a computer. That's the real meaning of nanotechnology, and why it is sometimes seen as "the next industrial revolution".

"You would never have thought it possible to pick up an atom and actually move it a few atomic diameters away," said physicist Joseph Stroscio. "It is equivalent to reaching out to the planets and being able to touch a planet and move it from one orbit to another."

How soon will it come about?

Conservative estimates usually say 20 to 30 years from now. However, sources indicate that numerous nanomaterial-containing products are entering commerce, thus creating the potential for human and environmental exposure at various stages of their lifecycles.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “a survey of companies working in the field of nanotechnology has identified approximately 80 consumer products, and over 600 raw materials, intermediate components and industrial equipment items, that are used by manufacturers, though detailed results of this survey do not appear to be public. This is because of the rapid progress being made in enabling technologies, such as optics, nanolithography, mechanochemistry and 3D prototyping.”

If it does arrive too soon, we may not be adequately prepared, and the consequences could be severe.

Nanotechnology - is it safe?

Nanotechnology is a revolutionary, transformative, powerful, and potentially very dangerous - or beneficial - technology.

Viewed with pessimism, molecular manufacturing could appear far too risky to be allowed to develop to anywhere near its full potential. However, a naive approach to limiting R&D is flawed for at least two reasons. Firstly, it will almost certainly be impossible to prevent its development somewhere in the world. Secondly, it will provide benefits that are simply too good to pass up, including environmental repair; clean, cheap, and efficient manufacturing; medical breakthroughs; immensely powerful computers; and easier access to space.

Although relatively few studies have been conducted on nanomaterials, the initial results have identified surprising, hazardous properties, i.e. intrinsic abilities to cause adverse effects. At the same time, the rapid pace of commercialisation suggests that the potential for human and environmental exposure will grow dramatically.

For example, the same binding properties that allow nanomaterials to deliver therapeutics to cancer cells might also allow nanomaterials to deliver toxic substances to aquatic organisms. Likewise, the electrical properties that drive applications in computers may lead to oxidative damage in living tissues.

Moreover, at least some nanoparticles can readily penetrate cell membranes and enter body compartments that neither larger particles nor smaller molecules can readily access, which enables them to deliver targeted drug therapies. Where and how nanoparticles gain entry into organs and cells, as well as where and how they are transported after entry increases the difficulty of understanding nanomaterial hazards.

As yet, no studies on any nanomaterial’s reproductive toxicity, immunotoxicity, developmental toxicity, or chronic health effects, such as cancer, have been published, although some are underway. With some nanomaterials now on the market, and others in development, research needs to keep pace on the result of human and environmental exposures to nanoparticles.

Available data, while limited in scope, clearly indicates both that some nanomaterials have hazardous properties and that growing numbers of nanomaterials are reaching the market. Unfortunately, it is far from clear whether existing regulatory programs will provide an effective means of addressing nanomaterial risks, particularly in the foreseeable future. As an interim measure, several voluntary initiatives to develop standards for the safe production, use, and disposal of nanomaterials are now underway.

It is in the best interest of companies and society that these potential harms are identified and addressed, ideally through material design, or alternatively, through safeguards on production, use, or disposal both during a product’s useful life and beyond.

For example, nanomaterials embedded within resins may be incorporated into tennis rackets, automobile running boards, or other products. Although risk of exposure appears minimal during product use, pre and post-use exposure must also be considered. Such exposure may occur during the manufacture of the product and its components, or during disposal, recycling, or reclamation.

Human and environmental exposure during these other stages may be substantial. For instance, although computer users are highly unlikely to inhale carbon nanotubes bound in their computer screen, the exposure potential may dramatically increase if recyclers ultimately grind up those screens for other uses, such as road aggregate. Exposure is most obvious for the workers doing the grinding and road-construction, however, as the road’s surface weathers with time and traffic it could also affect everyday road users. In summary, it is necessary to consider a product’s complete lifecycle in order to understand the effects of exposure and address risks effectively.

It may only be early days but as we have witnessed before, new technology can become part of our life, for better or worse, very quickly and all too often before a whole lot of moral, ethical, health and environmental impacts are fully considered.

Let’s hope this is one instance where our scientists and governments do get it right first time for the good of our planet and those that inhabit it.