Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Falkner, Robert; Breggin, Linda K.; Jaspers, Nico; Porter, Read; Pendergrass, John --- "International Coordination and Cooperation: The Next Agenda in Nanomaterials Regulation" [2010] ELECD 731; in Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew (eds), "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

Editor(s): Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446731

Section: Chapter 23

Section Title: International Coordination and Cooperation: The Next Agenda in Nanomaterials Regulation

Author(s): Falkner, Robert; Breggin, Linda K.; Jaspers, Nico; Porter, Read; Pendergrass, John

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

23 International coordination and
cooperation: the next agenda in
nanomaterials regulation
Robert Falkner, Linda K. Breggin, Nico Jaspers,
John Pendergrass and Read Porter


Nanotechnologies are set to transform industrial society. They promise
benefits in a wide range of applications, from health care to food, cosmet-
ics, chemicals, information technology and energy storage. The manipu-
lation of matter or creation of structures down to the molecular level
(typically at a scale of approximately 100 nanometres or less, a nanometre
being one-billionth of a metre) has led to the creation of novel materi-
als, so-called engineered nanomaterials, which are already being used in
numerous consumer products. Additional commercial applications can be
expected in coming years.
Our understanding of how nanomaterials interact with the environ-
ment and the human body has not kept pace with the development of
nanotechnologies. Early results of research suggest that the safety of all
nanomaterials cannot be taken for granted (see, for example, the recent
reviews by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering
(RS-RAE) (2004) and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
(RCEP) (2008). The ongoing expansion of nanotechnologies may produce
novel nanostructures that cause currently unknown forms of hazard.
Developing nanomaterials governance that is both effective and propor-
tional to potential risks is critical to the future success of existing and
emerging nanotechnologies.
The aim of this chapter is to identify key challenges in developing more
effective and internationally coordinated nanomaterials regulation. It
seeks to stimulate the debate on how to ...