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
The following chapters discuss certain ethical issues relating to nanotechnology and indicate any
ignorance or considerable uncertainty regarding the possible effects on health and the environment,
particularly with respect to nanoparticles, the Commission will issue recommendations to the various
stakeholders based on the observations and action steps indicated above.
The “life cycle” approach from the perspective of sustainable development
In 1997, the ISO 14040 (from the 14000 series 168 ) international standard on life cycle assessment for
environmental management was adopted. The following year, Environment Canada published a guide
entitled Environmental Life Cycle Management: A Guide for Better Business Decisions, including the following
definition: “[The life cycle concept takes] a ‘cradle to grave’ approach to thinking about products,
processes, and services. It recognizes that all product life cycle stages (extracting and processing raw
materials, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use/reuse, recycling, and waste management)
have environmental and economic impacts.” 169
There is clearly international interest in considering the issue of life cycle with respect to
nanotechnology. Examples of this include the European Union’s sixth framework program, 170 the joint
report by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering in Great Britain, 171 a draft white
paper by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 172 and a briefing by the California Council
on Science and Technology. 173 In this briefing, however, interest in product life cycle is primarily tied to
the industrial production of nanometric components, particularly as regards worker and environmental
protection, since nanocomposites* may accumulate in the environment over time. 174
168 Readers should note that “the main purpose of the ISO 14000 series standards is to promote more effective
and efficient environmental management in organizations and the provision of useful and usable tools (costeffective,
systems-based, flexible, based on the best organizational practices available) for gathering,
interpreting, and communicating environmentally relevant information, the end result of which should be the
improvement of environmental performance.” See http://www.intracen.org/tdc/Export%20
Quality%20Bulletins/eq53eng.pdf, p. 2–3.
169 See http://www.ec.gc.ca/ecocycle/en/whatislcm.cfm for an overview of the guide.
170 EUROPEAN UNION, “Sixth Framework Program: Nanotechnologies and nanosciences” [online]
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/i23015.htm.
171 Op. cit.
172 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ([EPA] United States), op. cit.
173 CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Opportunities and
Challenges in California, A Briefing for the Joint Committee on Preparing CA for the 21st Century, California,
January 2004 [online] http://www.larta.org/lavox/articlelinks/2004/040223_nanoreport.pdf.
174 “It is the transition to large-scale commercial manufacturing of these materials that is the primary concern, not the small amounts
of material produced in the research process. The exposure of workers to nanoparticulates will require investigation, and potential
regulation as with chemicals found to be hazardous but useful. With large production quantities, it will also be important to study
the full life cycle of these materials, including the associated process of producing them, their use, and eventual disposal.
Nanocomposites, for example, may be more difficult and more energy-intensive to recycle than single-phase material, and may
accumulate in the environment over time. Since environmental impacts may be slow to develop and ascertain, one of the challenges
will be to determine what needs to be monitored over the course of time as an important and relevant effect.” Ibid., p. 108.
42 Ethics and Nanotechnology:
A Basis for Action