The government’s plan for research on potential health and environmental risks posed by the use of nanomaterials has been bashed in the latest report by the National Research Council, who found it to be faulty. As nanomaterials begin expanding their use in consumer goods and the industry in general, the need for a risk assessment, but also for public acceptance for these emerging products, become mandatory.

The committee said the National Nanotechnology Initiative document can ultimately be an effective tool for communicating the breadth of federally supported research associated with developing a comprehensive understanding of the implications of nanotechnology, however, in its present form, it lacks essential elements for the complete understanding of nanomaterials’ health and safety impact.

The report clearly states that the government plan does not describe a strategy for nano-risk research, it lacks input from a diverse stakeholder group, it also lacks vision and a clear set of objectives, a comprehensive assessment of the state of the science, a plan or roadmap on how research progress will be measured, and the estimated resources required to conduct such research.

Although admitting to finding a lot of specific topics on which more research is needed to address environmental, health and safety issues, the committee also found that although the research needs are sufficient for some research categories, they are poorly defined and incomplete in others, specifically risk management and exposure assessment.

Furthermore, the report also reveals that the governmental strategy document does not present concrete research notes, measurable objectives, and that the implementation plan fails any sense of how success toward specific goals will be measured or what resources might be needed to achieve them.

As Committee chair David Eaton, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, School of Public Health, and associate vice provost for research at the University of Washington, Seattle, explained, the plan catalogs nano-risk research across several federal agencies, but it does not present an overarching research strategy needed to gain public acceptance and realize the promise of technology.

Nanotechnology deals with atomic and molecular scale materials, under 100 nanometers, and has the potential to be used in a wide range of domains, from medicine, to electronics, to energy production and more.

Products using nanomaterials are already available on the market today, in health and fitness products mostly, such as skin care and cosmetics, but their number and applicability are expected to grow significantly within the next few years.

But despite their usefulness and increasing popularity, there are also concerns over their impact on human health, but also on the environment. Specialists warned that nanoparticles created lung and brain damage in mice, and that some nanoparticles could destroy beneficial bacteria important for breaking down organic matter in waste treatment plants of farms.