Development Ethical and Societal Issues Satyen Baindur PhD

Stewardship in Nanotechnology Development:
Ethical and Societal Issues
SATYEN BAINDUR, PHD
Ottawa Policy Research Associates, Inc.
OPRA Report 2006-4-1 Issued April 2006
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
currently surrounds the ‘nano’ idea. For this reason, a careful examination of products
claiming to use nanotechnology becomes necessary 4 .
Not all the properties of nanoscale materials, however, are yet fully understood.
The especially important issue of how nanomaterials will interact with the biotic and
abiotic environment is still being actively investigated, and some preliminary results in
are becoming available. Regulatory and policy interest in nanomaterials has, however,
already been engaged in a proactive and forward-looking manner.
As well, the possible risks from nanomaterials can be seen in the context of the
known respiratory health risks of ultrafine particles (UFPs), fibres and filamentary
materials, where the risk often arises, or is exacerbated, from the size and shape of the
particles and fibres (especially when the size is in the nano range), and does not
necessarily depend on the details of chemical composition. Since UFPs and nanoparticles
(NPs) have the same size range, some of the same concerns are likely to apply to both.
Furthermore, experience with materials such as asbestos fibres indicates that risk
management strategies can and should be implemented even in the absence of complete
characterization of the material. In this context, nanotechnology could take some lessons
learned about risks and risk management strategies.
For these reasons, nanotechnology has engaged the strong interest of policy
makers, regulatory agencies and civil society organizations with a health and
environmental risk emphasis. This interest has heightened in the past couple of years as
investigations on the interaction of nanomaterials with the biotic and abiotic environment
have been yielding interpretable results.
In addition to purely health or environmental concerns, ethical precepts such as
the principle of respect for human dignity; the principle of individual autonomy; the
principle of justice and beneficence; the principle of freedom of research, belief and
4
4 On March 10 th 2006, the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC released its nanoproducts inventory
based on a web search. However, almost immediately, some products were discovered that might not
actually belong. A cosmetics product company.
4