Sludge Watch ==> Groups Petition EPA to Ban Nanosilver in Consumer Goods

[Maureen Reilly]

Groups Petition EPA to Ban Nanosilver in Consumer Goods

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 2, 2008; Page A04

A coalition of consumer protection groups yesterday filed a legal petition 
with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to halt the sale of 
consumer products containing microscopic nanoparticles of silver, an 
increasingly popular germ-killer that has raised environmental concerns.

More than 200 products -- including odor-resistant socks, baby bottles and 
clothes-washing machines -- are laced with specks of nanosilver, part of a 
larger nanotechnology revolution fueled by the novel chemical properties 
substances gain when honed to a few billionths of a meter.

But nanosilver's effects are not specific to harmful bacteria. Studies 
indicate it can harm aquatic organisms. And with the exception of one narrow 
rule that focuses on washing machines, the EPA has not addressed the 
potential risks of this new form of pollution, said George Kimbrell, staff 
attorney with the Washington-based International Center for Technology 
Assessment, which spearheaded the petition.

"EPA must stop avoiding this problem and use its regulatory authority to 
fulfill its statutory duties," Kimbrell said in a statement, adding in an 
interview that nanosilver is used in some stuffed animals and children's' 
clothing.

The petition asks the agency to stop the sale of products containing 
nanosilver and regulate the chemical as a pesticide, which would require 
toxicity studies and risk assessments to measure environmental and human 
health impacts.

An EPA spokesman said the agency already has "stringent regulatory 
standards" for pesticides, including those made with nanotechnology, but 
will review the petition.

There is disagreement about how, exactly, nanosilver should be regulated, 
said Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser for the Project on Emerging 
Nanotechnologies, set up by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts. "But the petition raises a number of 
very valid points that have got to be taken seriously," he said. "Nanosilver 
and its use as a pesticide has got to be better regulated. It seems to be 
slipping under the radar."

A recent study showed that when socks impregnated with nanosilver are 
washed, silver particles end up in the drain water. Another found that 
nanosilver inhibits the growth of beneficial bacteria that help break down 
harmful chemicals in wastewater treatment plants.

Congress is currently considering a reauthorization of the five-year-old 
$1.5 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative and should take the 
opportunity to properly prioritize related health and safety research that 
needs to be done, said David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging 
Nanotechnologies.

"Research on nanosilver impacts should have started a year and a half ago," 
Rejeski said in an e-mail, "when we saw the commercialization of products 
using nanoscale silver increase rapidly."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050103228.html?hpid=topnews