Nanotechnologies: Small science, big potential and bigger issues
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Nanotechnologies: Small science, big potential and bigger issues
MICHELE MEKEL
ABSTRACT Michele Mekel asks that we take into account nanotechnology-related ethical, legal, and social implications (NELSI) when we consider environmental, health, and safety issues and indeed the constitution of human nature. We need to break down the hyperbole around the marketing of nanotechnologies and go beyond the ‘nanobabble’ in both science and technology and discuss much more candidly the ethical and social issues. KEYWORDS ethics; legal rights and social justice
Introduction As nanotechnology moves from bench science to industrial application in consumer products, this emerging, enabling technology, which crosses numerous scientific disciplines and economic sectors, has a number of nanotechnology-related ethical, legal, and social implications (NELSI). These NELSI range from the present-day environmental, health, and safety issues to, perhaps, ultimately, the constitution of human nature. These issues must be addressed in tandem with technical innovation through an open, public dialogue. However, there are barriers to this dialogue, which include: extreme positive and negative hyperbole surrounding the technology; the lack of standardized terminology and definitions; the devolution of the term‘nanotechnology’ into a marketing brand; and even confusion surrounding the scope of NELSI.
Nanoinnovation: The potential trajectory of nanotechnology and associated NELSI ‘Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms’ ^ this was the motto of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms, accessed 20 June 2006). This slogan is emblematic of three distinct phases of technological innovation. And, while nanotechnology was not part of the scientific lexicon in 1933, the 73-year-old slogan is eerily applicable to the emergence and development of this nascent and most hi-tech of fields. Today, nanotechnology is transitioning from the first phase,‘Science Finds’, to the second,‘IndustryApplies’, as new nano-enhanced products, which range from tennis balls and stain-resistant pants to sunscreens and shampoos, hit the shelves. This transition Development (2006) 49(4), 47–53. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100296
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from bench science to commercialization is raising concerns about potential environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risks because: (1) materials at the nanoscale often exhibit very different characteristics than the same materials in bulk form (Hett, 2004: 12); and (2) nanomaterials have not yet undergone sufficient testing to identify and quantify EHS risks posed by their minute size and novel properties (Maynard, 2006).1 These concerns, however, are frequently framed in very structured terms, concentrating on toxicology, nomenclature, metrology, and regulation. This has given rise to highly technical and focused dialogues surrounding these issues, which have really only captured the attention of specialists, inc
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