Nanotechnology and environmental and public health considerations

Nanotechnology has arrived on the scene much as did predecessor technologies--hailed for its purpose and accepted with enthusiasm amid bursts of research, funding, and news of creative applications. But the early efforts to consider its environmental aspects have been small even though the implications for environmental and public health are broad. A well-crafted policy framework is needed, one linked to a clearer understanding of the direct and indirect effects, benefits, and risk of nanotechnology. A precautious approach would foster policy interventions to prevent harms by slowing developments where the risks are high and focus scientific effort on dispelling ignorance and uncertainty, especially in those areas where the consequences of being wrong are substantial. This kind of approach also would impose the burden of demonstrating the safety of the technology primarily on its proponents. The process of producing guidelines for other technologies is considered.