A Basis for Action - Commission de l'éthique de la science et de la ...

Position Statement of the Commission de l'éthique de la science et de la technologie
Important aspects to consider: a premise for ethical questioning
To better understand the world of nanotechnology, its features will be discussed in further detail: the
nanoscale, new properties of matter at this scale, the manipulation of matter, multidisciplinarity and the
convergence of disciplines, and worldwide fascination with nanotechnology. In some cases, these
features will serve as a basis for the ethical assessment undertaken in the following chapters.
The size of nanometric components
Because devices designed especially to work at the nanoscale are required to explore the nanoworld and
manipulate atoms or molecules—like the scanning tunneling microscope (for conducting materials) and
the atomic force microscope* (for insulating materials) 20 —the nanoworld and its components remain
invisible and undetectable outside research and industrial manufacturing facilities. Operations to
monitor the presence of nanometric components in a given product or environment require specific
conditions, and current measures to protect against inhalation, ingestion, or absorption through the
skin, and to prevent nanoparticle waste from being released into the environment are no longer
necessarily appropriate or effective. 21
The new properties of nanometric matter
With the increase in the volume/surface ratio and the bigger specific surface that results, new
properties appear in matter at the nanoscale, e.g., nickel becomes as hard as steel, a formerly soluble
substance becomes insoluble, the conductivity of copper diminishes while that of carbon increases, the
thermal properties of materials change, certain substances change color, and others become reactive.
Discovery and research of these new properties are spurring interest in nanotechnology and the
technological innovation it can lead to in many sectors.
However, these new characteristics of matter at the nanoscale are uncharted territory where uncertainty
reigns. At less than 50 nm, matter follows the laws of quantum physics* and no longer those of
conventional physics. Some of its properties—such as magnetism and conductivity—can change
radically. Due to their small size, nanoparticles can become more toxic, since they can be more easily
absorbed by living organisms. 22 These new properties inevitably raise the question of the proven or
20 MINISTÈRE DÉLÉGUÉ À LA RECHERCHE ET AUX NOUVELLES TECHNOLOGIES (France), À la découverte du
nanomonde, Paris, 2003, p. 18–19 [online] http://www.nanomicro.recherche.gouv.fr/docs/plaq.
nanomonde.pdf.
21 THE ROYAL SOCIETY & THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING (United Kingdom), op. cit., p. 76.
22 MERIDIAN INSTITUTE, Nanotechnology and the Poor: Opportunities and Risks. Closing the Gaps Within and Between Sectors of
Society, January 2005, p. 8 [online] http://www.nanoandthepoor.org. See also, among others, SCIENTIFIC
COMMITTEE ON EMERGING AND NEWLY IDENTIFIED HEALTH RISKS (SCENIHR), Opinion on the appropriateness of
existing methodologies to assess the potential risks associated with engineered and adventitious products of nanotechnologies, European
Commission, September 2005 [online] http://files.nanobio-raise.org/ Downloads/scenihr.pdf; SWISS RE,
Nanotechnology. Small Matter, Many Unknowns, Annabelle HETT et al., Swiss Reinsurance Company, Risk perception
series, Switzerland, 2004 [online] http://swissre.com; J. Clarence DAVIES, Managing the Effects of Nanotechnology,
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Washington, D.C.,
January 27, 2006 [online] http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ events/docs/Effectsnanotechfinal.pdf.
Chapter 1 – A New and Emerging World: 9
The Universe of Nanotechnology