Nanotechnology and the Environment: A Mismatch between Claims and Reality
Summary posted by Meridian on 7/20/2009
Source: Nanowerk
Author: n/a
Two international coalitions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are challenging industry claims about the potential environmental benefits provided by nanotechnology products. The groups, the European Environmental Bureau and the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) Nanotechnology Working Group, state that emerging evidence is showing that the claims put forth by industry regarding nanotechnology do not provide the whole picture, and that environmental risks and costs are being trivialized or ignored. The groups argue that any reductions in environmental impacts or in ecological footprint achieved through nanotechnology need to be carefully assessed against the environmental costs of nanomaterial production. Their paper outlines, in detail, the many concerns of the organizations, such as claims that nanotechnology will deliver cleaner production and reduce energy consumption, and proposes solutions. They conclude by calling for "...better governance of technological innovation with clearer sustainability objectives and higher quality environmental risk and life cycle assessment." They go on to say that "[W]e are therefore concerned that rather than providing real solutions to our most pressing problems, nanotechnologies will underpin a new wave of industrial expansion that will magnify existing resource and energy use and exacerbate environmental destruction. Without a proper and comprehensive risk and life cycle analysis to balance the current commercialisation of high-risk applications with little or no proven societal benefits, environmental costs could be high and the technology as a whole distrusted or rejected by the public." The article can be viewed online at the link below.
The original article may still be available at www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=11736.php
As tagged by Meridian Institute:
Energy:
Energy, Climate Change
Implications:
Human Enhancement, Human Health Risks, Worker Safety, Governance, Environmental Risks, Ethics
Materials And Manufacturing:
Manufacturing
Nanomaterials:
Carbon Nanoparticle, Metal Nanoparticle, Naturally Occurring
Regions:
Europe
Stakeholders:
Government, Industry, NGO, Academia, International Institutions
Water And Sanitation:
Purification, Quality
Food And Agriculture:
Food, Agriculture
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