Nanotechnology Lawyer & Attorney : Porter Wright Morris & Arthur : Nanotechnology Law Report - Germanium nanobead image provided by UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy

The Congressional Research Service, in March of this year, released a report, "Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer", written by John F. Sargent, Jr., a specialist in Science and Technology Policy. The primer's first section focuses on a review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). A table showing funding from various government agencies and departments for NNI shows that from FY 2006 to FR 2010, the Department of Defense (DOD) has been the largest single source of funding. However, this is about to change. In FY 2011, DOD will fall to 4th place, preceded by the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This shifting of the majority of funding from DOD  may reflect a normal path of evolution; DOD has long been a source of funding for new technologies that eventually develop non-military uses. It may also reflect that future DOD budgets will not be as robust as they have been in the last few years.

Noting that "In the longer term, nanotechnology may deliver revolutionary advances with profound economic and societal implications", Part 2 of the CRS report considers briefly area that may be most affected by nanotech:

Detection and treatment technologies for cancer

"Clean, inexpensive, renewable power through energy creation, storage and transmission technologies"

Universal Access to clean water supplies, both in the US and less developed nations:  " Nanotechnology water desalination and filtration systems may offer affordable, scalable and portable water filtration systems".

"High density memory devices", improving the performance of computers and other devices.

Improved, more abundant crop yields and nutrition: " Higher crop yields might be achieved using nanoscale sensors that detect the presence of a virus or disease infecting particle . . . . Nanotechnology also offers the potential for improved nutrition. Some companies are exploring the development of nanocapsules that release nutrients targeted at specific parts of the body at specific times".

Self-healing materials

"Sensors that can warn of minute levels of toxic and pathogens in air, soil, or water."

Remediation of contaminated sites: ". . .  nanoscale particles . . . may offer more effective and less costly solution to environmental contamination."

The report also discusses other selected issues, primarily US competitiveness with other nations in the  nanotech area, using public and private investment, scientific papers published and cited, and patents issued as measurement parameters. The report notes that while the United States still leads all other nations in these areas, that lead has diminished over the last few years, with Japan, Germany and the People's Republic of China (PRC) poised to assume the lead. In these areas, the potential loss of US competitiveness is reflected in the debates in the media and Congress over free trade agreements (FTAs) and government policy towards the manufacturing sector and how best to aid it.

The report concludes with brief considerations of (1) environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology, (2) nanomanufacturing, and (3) public attitudes toward and understanding or misunderstanding of nanotech issues, noting that public support for nanotech tends to be greatest among those with advanced degrees and higher incomes.

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By now, I think that most readers of this blog have either read "Exposure to Nanoparticles is Related to Pleural Effusion, Pulmonary Fibrosis, and Granuloma" by Yuguo Song, Xue Li, and Xuqin Du, recently published in the European Respiratory Journal or any of the news articles based on it, such as this one from Reuters. The paper makes for very sobering reading.

For anyone who hasn't read the article,a brief synopsis is in order:

From January 2007 to April 2008, seven female patients were admitted to Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing. All seven worked in the same department of a printing plant and all seven were suffering from the same symptom - shortness of breath, pleural effusion and pericardial effusion, and were treated with antibiotics and surgery and placed on oxygen to assist their breathing. Five of the women stabilized; two, ages 29 and 19, died of respiratory failure. Further investigations revealed accumulations of nanoparticles in their lungs, nanoparticles that the women had been exposed to for various lengths of time in their workplace.

The authors reached the following conclusion:

. . . it is the nano materials containing nano-sized particles that appear to produce the toxicities seen in the exposed workers.

Therefore, we have more evidence to show that the nano particles contained in the polyacrylate emulsion had possibly caused the disease. There is an indication from this report that shows the possible dangerous nature of nano particles. Nano particles can penetrate the membrane of pulmonary epithelial cells and lodge in the cytoplasm and caryoplasm, as well as aggregate around the membrane of red blood cells and exert toxicity. Patients may develop clinically serious conditions associated with damaged respiratory function including a progressive pulmonary fibrosis that is resistant to several methods of treatment.

Many critics of nanotechnology and nanoindustry may use this study as a basis for calls to end the use of nanoparticles in manufacturing processes or to call for the shutdown of nanoindustries altogether. That is unlikely to happen. Too much time, money and effort has been invested for a shutdown to become a reality. The genie has left the bottle and it's not going back.

Further, as the authors state throughout their article, the women's workplace contributed as much, if not more, to the women's illnesses as the nanoparticles did:

A survey of the patients' workplace was conducted. It measures about 70 square meters. . . has one door, no windows, and one machine used to air spray materials, heat and dry boards. This machine has three atomizing spray nozzles, and one gas exhauster (a ventilation unit) that broke 5 months before the occurrence of the disease.

Accumulated dust particles were found at the intake of the gas exhauster. During the five months preceding illness the door of the workspace was kept closed due to cold outdoor temperatures. The workers . . .  had no knowledge of industrial hygiene and possible toxicity from the materials they worked with. The only personal protective equipment (PPE) used on an occasional  basis was cotton gauze masks. According to the patients, there were often some flocculi produced during air spraying, which caused itching on their faces and arms. It is estimated that the airflow or turnover rates of indoor air would be very slow, or quiescent due to the lack of windows and the closed door.

In their conclusions, the authors note that

. . . more studies on the possible mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the nano material related disease are needed.

. . . these cases arouse concerns that long term exposure to some nanoparticles without protective measures my be related to serious damage to human beings. . . . Effective protective methods appear to be important in terms of protecting exposed workers from illness caused by nano particles. (emphasis added).

Such future studies as the authors call for may be used as the basis for new and more effective regulation of the nanoindustrial environment, to prevent tragedies such as the deaths of the two young women in this study.  

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