From rhe Edmonds Institute

CALL FOR A NANOTECH MORATORIUM

IF any of us needed a push to be concerned about NANOTECHNOLOGY, any of the ETCGroup papers should have done the trick. Now comes a paper from US EPA - the Draft Nanotechnology White Paper - and with it the clear delineation of admitted gaps in knowledge and assessment and regulatory preparedness.

Go to the EPA website for the whole paper -- -- and then take a moment and let us know if you would like your organization's name added to the list of those calling for -- at the very least -- a moratorium on the release of any (further) products of nanotechnology until EPA has completed the research that it itself has called for its recently released Draft Paper.

To sign on to the letter to EPA calling for a moratorium, contact the Edmonds Institute at <beb@igc.org>.

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Here's EPA' press release about the paper:


EPA Nanotechnology Draft White Paper

Contact: Suzanne Ackerman, 202-564-4355 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov

EPA has issued the Draft Nanotechnology White Paper, a road map that identifies critical questions that must be addressed in order for the United States to reap the potential environmental and economic benefits of nanotechnology. Along with presenting the anticipated benefits of nanotechnology, the paper also deals with risk management of possible negative impacts of the new technologies. EPA will accept public comments on the draft white paper until Jan. 9, 2006, and then provide those comments to external reviewers for their consideration.

Nanotechnology is the science of creating or modifying materials at the atomic and molecular level to develop new or enhanced materials and products. In December 2004, EPA's Science Policy Council created a cross-agency work group to identify and describe the issues EPA must consider to ensure protection of human health and the environment as this new technology is developed. The draft white paper on nanotechnology is the product of the work group.

The white paper identifies data gaps that need to be filled and the research that EPA will conduct to fully grasp the applications and the implications of nanotech. Those research results will inform the appropriate regulatory safeguards for nanotechnology. The latest nanotechnology and potential environmental benefits of nanotechnology are detailed. Risk management issues and the agency's statutory mandates are outlined, following an extensive discussion of risk assessment issues. The white paper concludes with recommendations on next steps for addressing science policy issues and research needs.

Following the expert review, EPA will issue a final white paper on nanotechnology in early 2006. To obtain additional information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/osa/nanotech.htm Release date:12/07/2005

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Beth Burrows
Director
The Edmonds Institute
20319-92nd Avenue West Edmonds, Washington
98020 USA
phone:(001)
425-775-5383
email: beb@igc.org
website: