Green concerns about things in a nano-tech package

The green profile of nanotech is being called into question by Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), which is recommending the development of new policies that account for the relatively unexplored of the materials within.

The group outlines the nature of its concerns in a report called “Regulating Emerging Technologies in Silicon Valley and Beyond: Lessons from 1981 Chemical Spills in the Electronics Industry and Implications for Regulating Nanotechnology.” One big issue for this itsy bitsy technology, for example, is how readily nanomaterials may be able to enter the human body.

The increasing use of nanotech by the medical, pharmaceutical, electronics and environmental industries is cause for concern, according to Sheila Davis, executive director of the SVTC. Her rationale is that today’s regulations were written to cover chemicals and substances that were troublesome 30 years ago. SVTC is recommending that in the absence of regulatory action, individual communities should be asking tougher questions about the possible green impact. You can read the 30-page report here.

Logical concerns or alarmism about the unknown? You decide.