Sludge Watch ==> Nano materials - strict requirements urged

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080521.wnano21/BNStory/National/


Strict guidelines urged for nanomaterials
(NOTE: guidelines are only guidelines and therefore cannot by 'strict'.  We 
need strict enforcable regulations - Sludge Watch Admin)
Tiny substances should be banned in foods, clearly labelled in personal-care 
products, environmental law group says

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

>From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

May 21, 2008 at 4:53 AM EDT

Nanomaterials should be banned in foods and some packaging, and there should 
be mandatory labelling for these novel compounds in cosmetics, personal-care 
products and cleaning agents, says the Canadian Institute for Environmental 
Law and Policy.

The institute says the food ban should be in place by November of 2009 and 
the labelling requirement by May of 2010. It contends that the "extremely 
rapid commercialization" of consumer products containing nanomaterials 
"requires an unprecedented sense of urgency by government in the creation of 
policy for this area."

Nanomaterials are extremely small, engineered substances that many 
environmentalists worry could be the next frontier for hazardous chemicals 
in consumer goods. They're currently being added to many products, including 
wrinkle- and stain-resistant fabrics, sunscreens and sports equipment, such 
as tennis racquets, among other items.

CIELAP, a Toronto-based environmental policy think tank, is issuing the 
timelines and recommendations in a report being released today.

Carbon nanotubes mimic asbestos
Although the health or environmental threats, if any, posed by nanomaterials 
are not known, Susan Holtz, a senior policy analyst at the institute, said 
"this is an emerging issue" driven by the fast growth in commercial 
applications for the new technology.

The regulatory framework for ensuring the safety of these novel materials 
isn't well developed in Canada or elsewhere around the world, Ms. Holtz 
said. She said the labelling requirement would give consumers more 
information with which to decide whether to buy a product.

The report, written by Ms. Holtz, also recommends that the federal 
government create a Canadian inventory of products containing these 
compounds, a record of research activities on them, and a worker safety 
program for those involved in their manufacture.

More than 500 consumer items incorporate nanomaterials, according to a 
non-governmental tally maintained by the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars, with three of them made by Canadian 
firms. One industry estimate projected that about $1-trillion worth of 
products incorporating nanotechnology will be on the world market by 2015.

Nanomaterials are very minute - ranging in size from one to 100 nanometres. 
One nanometre equals a billionth of a metre, and it would take about 100,000 
particles the size of one nanometre to equal the diameter of a human hair.

Scientists make nanomaterials by arranging metals and other compounds at the 
level of the atom in unique ways, often into shapes resembling rods or 
spheres, creating new substances with more strength, conductivity or 
durability than the original materials from which they are constructed.

Because of their small size, there are fears that when products using 
nanomaterials break down, some of the tiny particles will be able to cross 
into cell membranes or become embedded in tissues in a way that is similar 
to such carcinogens as asbestos or such health hazards as the small 
particulates, or soot, contained in air pollution.

Ms. Holtz said nanomaterials are also being used in medical applications. 
She is worried that nanomaterials containing silver as an 
anti-bacteriological agent in wound dressing, for instance, could get into 
the environment and harm wildlife. She said there is "beginning to be an 
accumulation of evidence that things like this have ecological impacts." 
Environment Canada and Health Canada issued a proposed regulatory framework 
for nanomaterials last year in September.

The government wants to regulate nanomaterials in the same way as new 
chemicals, if they have a unique structure or molecular arrangement. The 
requirement would expose nanomaterials to additional safety testing, but Ms. 
Holtz said the scientific protocols for evaluating these substances have not 
yet been determined.