Project on Emerging Nanotech: Lifecycle Assessment Essential to Nanotech Commercial Development
March 29, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Lifecycle assessment (LCA) - a cradle-to-grave look at the health and environmental impact of a material, chemical or product - is an essential tool for ensuring the safe, responsible and sustainable commercialization of nanotechnology, according to U.S. and European experts from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the European Commission (EC), respectively.
The number of nanotechnology-enabled products entering the market is expected to grow globally from $30B in 2005 to $2.6 trillion by 2014.
However, "numerous uncertainties exist regarding possible impacts on the environment and human health," the experts said in their report.
According to the report, wisely implemented assessment tools such as LCA can help corporations and researchers determine likely environmental impacts at various stages in a nanotechnology product's lifecycle.
It also enables governments, industry and consumers to compare the environmental performance of a novel nanotech product with that of conventional products already on the market.
The report concludes that the existing International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and other widely used frameworks for LCA are fully applicable to nanomaterials and nanoproducts.
However, the specificity of LCA results for nanotechnology products will be limited by the "lack of data and understanding" in areas central to the accurate assessment of the environmental, human health and safety effects of a particular nanomaterial or process.
"The lack of toxicity data specific to nanomaterials is a repeating theme in this and in other studies related to nanotech environmental, health and safety concerns," said Andrew Maynard, chief scientist for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.
Maynard said that because nanotechnology products are in the workplace, environment and home, the technology is no longer a scientific curiosity. But if benefits in electronics, medicine, sustainable energy and better building, clothing and packaging materials are to be realized, the government needs "an effective risk research strategy and sufficient funding in agencies responsible for oversight to do the job."
"The report calls for international cooperation and coordination - among governments, university researchers, corporations and consumer and other groups - to help address critical data needs," said Barbara Karn, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies visiting scientist. "It also highlights the need for nano-specific protocols and practical methodologies for toxicology studies, fate and transport studies and scaling approaches."
Despite incomplete information, the report said, LCA can be useful now, as long as uncertainties and data gaps are clearly stated. Results can help to focus attention on high-priority products and issues with the aim of eliminating critical unknowns and encouraging lifecycle thinking during the first wave of nanotechnology innovation.
The report, titled Nanotechnology and Life Cycle Assessment: A Systems Approach to Nanotechnology and the Environment, is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org and http://cordis.europa.eu/nanotechnology.
Source: EurekAlert!