Nanotechnology Project

Topics

Looking Ahead

  • news/archive February 20, 2015 New CPSC Nanotechnology Center Would Focus on Risks to Consumers The Consumer Product Safety Commission has requested $7 million in funding for a new center focused on nanotechnology in consumer products.
  • news/archive October 28, 2013 Inventory Finds Increase in Consumer Products Containing Nanoscale Materials The updated Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory now contains 1,628 consumer products that have been introduced to the market since 2005, representing a 24 percent increase since the last update in 2010. In addition to finding new products introduced to the market, the newly re-launched inventory seeks to address scientific uncertainty with contributions from those involved with nanomaterials production, use, and analysis.
  • news/archive March 10, 2011 Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Continue to Rise The most recent update to the Nanotechnology Consumer Product Inventory finds that over 1,300 manufacturer-identified nanotechnology-enabled consumer products have entered the marketplace to date.
  • events/archive December 1, 2010 Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020 Release of a new report,“Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020” (Eds. M. Roco, C. Mirkin and M. Hersam), Springer, 2010. video
  • news/archive November 4, 2010 Voluntary Initiatives, Regulation, and Nanotechnology Oversight A new PEN report provides the first ever analysis of voluntary initiatives to regulate nanotechnology. As nanotechnologies move forward, along with other emerging technologies, voluntary programs will play an important role in the governance portfolio available to the federal government as well as states and municipalities.
  • news/archive December 23, 2009 Project Director David Rejeski assesses the promises and perils of nanotechnology in The Environmental Forum Pretty much as predicted, the long awaited convergence of nanotechnology and biotechnology has arrived. Can environmental protection, still cleaning up the last Industrial Revolution, avoid the perils while realizing the promises of manufacturing at an atomic scale?
  • publications/archive September 29, 2009 Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology, & Public Opinion A groundbreaking poll of 1,001 U.S. adults conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) found 90 percent of Americans think that the public should be better informed about the development of cutting-edge technologies.
  • events/archive September 29, 2009 Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology, and Biofuels: What does the public think? Nanotechnology and synthetic biology continue to develop as two of the most exciting areas of scientific discovery, but research has shown that the public is almost completely unaware of the science and its applications. For the fourth year in a row, Hart Research and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies conducted a representative national telephone survey on public awareness of nanotechnology, and for the second year in a row the public was also asked about synthetic biology.
  • events/archive September 23, 2009 Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies Nanotechnology will impact our lives on a global scale. Over the past year experts from the London School of Economics, Chatham House, Environmental Law Institute and the Project have been examining issues of transatlantic regulatory cooperation.
  • publications/archive August 25, 2009 Nanotechnology and Consumer Products
  • news/archive August 25, 2009 Nanotech-enabled Consumer Products Top the 1,000 Mark Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory now contains over 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled consumer products, reflecting the increasing use of tiny particles in everything from conventional products like non-stick cookware and lighter, stronger tennis racquets, to more unique items such as wearable sensors that monitor posture.
  • news/archive July 29, 2009 5 years on - a beacon or just a landmark? A new report from The Responsible Nano Forum marks the 5 year anniversary of the release of the seminal report from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties.
  • publications/archive April 28, 2009 PEN 18 - Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology Existing health and safety agencies are unable to cope with the risk assessment, standard setting and oversight challenges of advancing nanotechnology.
  • events/archive April 28, 2009 Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded, automobiles ran on leaded gasoline without catalytic converters. A landmark report by J. Clarence Davies, Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology, describes how existing health and safety agencies are unable to cope with the risk assessment, standard setting and oversight challenges of 21st century technology. video
  • news/archive April 28, 2009 Former EPA Official Calls For New Environmental & Consumer Protection Agency Existing health and safety agencies are unable to cope with the risk assessment, standard setting and oversight challenges of advancing nanotechnology. In a landmark report, Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology, J. Clarence Davies highlights the need for a new agency to address current forms of pollution and to deal with the health and environmental impacts of the technically complex products promised by rapid 21st century scientific advances. video