Development Ethical and Societal Issues Satyen Baindur PhD

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Stewardship in Nanotechnology Development: Ethical and Societal Issues SATYEN BAINDUR, PHD Ottawa Policy Research Associates, Inc. OPRA Report 2006-4-1 Issued April 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION The science of matter at the nanoscale 1 has been rapidly advancing in the past decade. So also has the set of methods, techniques and approaches that enable the design, characterization and assembly of atoms, molecules, structures, devices and systems at the nanometer scale by controlling their shape, size, physico-chemical composition, surface characteristics, solubility or agglomeration properties. Collectively, these techniques and methods constitute nanotechnology; the plural ‘nanotechnologies’ is often cited, to emphasize that one is dealing here with general-purpose technologies that enhance and enable yet other technologies, influencing a very diverse set of application areas. At the most basic level, nanotechnologies result in new materials and device possibilities that exploit the unique physical and chemical properties of matter occurring at the nanoscale. These materials, generically called ‘nanomaterials’ 2 , come to have properties extending beyond those of materials found in nature. For example, some of these materials can have extreme hardness, or high tensile strength, but simultaneously be significantly lighter in weight than materials with similar properties found in nature. Other nanomaterials possess novel magnetic, electrical, optical or therapeutic properties that hold truly fascinating application potential. The field of nanotechnologies exhibits interdisciplinary convergence, where knowledge areas that were previously developing at their own pace, become thematically cohesive, and advance synergistically. Thus, one expects that the unprecedented pace at which nanotechnologies have been recently advancing will only increase in the future. While much that has happened in nanotechnologies is relatively new, it should not be assumed that all ‘nanotechnology’ is recent - in fact, there has long been an awareness of some of the special properties that result at the nanoscale, (though without knowledge of how they come about). For example, since medieval times, pigments used in stained glass have contained silver or gold particles in the 100 nm size range. More recently, 19 th 1 The nanoscale has come to be defined as 1-100 nanometers, where a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. 2 There are many kinds of nanomaterials, and a taxonomy of such materials is now coming into being. A preliminary taxonomy is presented elsewhere in this document. 2 2
Stewardship in Nanotechnology Development: Ethical and Societal Issues SATYEN BAINDUR, PHD Ottawa Policy Research Associates, Inc. OPRA Report 2006-4-1 Issued April 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ century scientists such as Faraday conducted experiments on gold nano-colloids (although that is not the term they used). Likewise, conventional industrial processes such as combustion, welding, friction, ablation, milling and pulverization have been producing nanosized particles unintentionally 3 for the past century or longer. Refinements of these techniques are now being used consciously to create what are titled ‘nano-alloys’, or more generically ‘nano-composites’. Not all nanoscale materials are anthropogenic. They are actually quite widely found in nature. Not only do proteins and enzymes behave as intrinsically nanoscale structures; but biological fluids such as milk or blood are nanoscale colloids, since they contain suspensions of nanoparticles, including proteins, lipids and fatty acids. Proteins, lipids and fatty acids, normally found in biological materials, are nanoscale molecules. For example, ferritin is an iron-storage protein occurring in the human body, with a size about 10 nm. Interestingly, from a clinical perspective, all drugs or pharmaceuticals (whether injected or ingested) pass through a nanoscale particulate phase before absorption by the human body. This perspective, which properly views nanoparticles as naturally occurring within the human body, is invaluable in properly situating the context within which the implications of nanomaterial interaction with the biotic and abiotic environments can be understood. Nanotechnology-based products that are now becoming commercially available involve nanoscale materials either as powders, aerosols, solutions, suspensions or colloids; or they are solid composite materials having a nanoscale structure. Product classes in which nanomaterials have been introduced or recognized include paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. Other product classes involving nanomaterials with diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic properties are still under active research and development. Occasionally, some products will be advertised by manufacturers as involving nanomaterials or nanotechnology simply to take advantage of the hype that 3 3 Particles with sizes less than 100nm i.e., 0.1 microns, have been traditionally called ‘ultrafine’ in contexts where production occurs unintentionally. However, ultrafine particles and nanoparticles have the same size range. 3
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Development Ethical and Societal Issues Satyen Baindur PhD

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