1. NANOTECHNOLOGY: EPA CONSIDERS HOW TO PROCEED.
- Author
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Bergeson, Lynn L.
- Subjects
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NANOTECHNOLOGY , *ENVIRONMENTAL protection , *POLLUTION , *BIOTIC communities , *ENVIRONMENTAL policy , *POLLUTION prevention , *INDUSTRIAL contamination - Abstract
This article deals with the questions related to potential toxicity of nanosized particles and structures, and whether their transport, potential transformation and fate in the environment could harm ecosystems. According to some researchers, the very qualities and properties that make nanosized particles so commercially attractive could make them potentially harmful under some circumstances. For example, the increased surface reactivity of nanosized particles suggests that they exhibit greater biological activity when compared with conventional bulk materials per given mass when taken up by living organisms, assuming the particles are solid. This enhanced biological activity can he beneficial, as in the case of nanosized materials being used as a drug delivery device designed to penetrate cellular barriers, or not beneficial if the biological activity translate to enhanced toxicity that compromises cellular activity or induces some other unwanted effect. United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics has focused its ongoing review of nanomaterials consisting of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act and is perhaps farther along in considering the regulatory implications of nanotechnology than other EPA program offices.
- Published
- 2005