Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety

Risks, Regulation, and Management

Matthew Hull, Diana Bowman, Matthew Scott Hull

• Publisher: William Andrew
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781455731909
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medical Theory, Practice & Reference

Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety, Second Edition focuses not only on the impact of nanotechnology and the discipline of nanotoxicity, but also explains each of these disciplines through in the context of management requirements and via risk scenarios — providing an overview of regulation, risk management, and exposure. Contributors thoroughly explain environmental health and safety (EHS) issues, financial implications, foreseeable risks (e.g., exposure, dose, hazards of nanomaterials), occupational hygiene, and consumer protection.Key new chapters have been included covering eco-toxicity, nanomedicine, informatics, and future threats. New case studies have also been added, including a chapter on the impact of nanosilver on the environment, as well as an assessment of how well lessons have been learned from the past, such as in the case of asbestos. The book also makes a business case for the importance of proactive EHS management - essential reading for existing or prospective producers of nanoscale products.- Practical guidance on risk management and mitigation across different legislative frameworks worldwide- Reviews toxicological studies and industrial initiatives, supported by numerous case studies- Includes extensive new material on the implications of nanotechnology for medicine, energy and food, as well as assessing future threats

Section 1

Precaution

Outline

Chapter 1 Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety—What We’ve Learned and Where We’re (Potentially) Heading

Chapter 2 What Are the Warning Signs That We Should Be Looking For?

Chapter 3 Are We Willing to Heed the Lessons of the Past? Nanomaterials and Australia’s Asbestos Legacy

Chapter 1

Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety—What We’ve Learned and Where We’re (Potentially) Heading

Matthew S. Hull and Diana M. Bowman

In 2010, we introduced Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety: Risks, Regulation, and Management to provide a collection of diverse and balanced perspectives on emerging nanotechnology environmental health and safety risks. To this end, we included chapters contributed from the insurance industry, risk assessors, toxicologists, labor union representatives, lawyers, academics, entrepreneurs, and other nanotechnology thought leaders from around the globe. Each of these perspectives offers a different glimpse and insights into the very real and complex challenges that accompany the development and commercialization of an emerging technology into today’s interconnected world. As the nanotechnology risk story continues to unfold, we are witnessing rapid changes in these perspectives and the introduction of entirely new ones, and this is where our second edition begins.

Keywords

Environmental health and safety; Deepwater Horizon; Gulf oil disaster; nanoinformatics; nanotechnology risks

Chapter Outline

References 7

In 2010, we introduced Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety: Risks, Regulation, and Management to provide a collection of diverse and balanced perspectives on emerging nanotechnology environmental health and safety (EHS) risks (Hull and Bowman, 2010). To this end, we included chapters contributed from the insurance industry, risk assessors, toxicologists, labor union representatives, lawyers, academics, entrepreneurs, and other nanotechnology thought leaders from around the globe. Each of these perspectives offered a different glimpse and insights into the very real and complex challenges that accompany the development and commercialization of an emerging technology into today’s interconnected world. As the nanotechnology risk story continues to unfold (Dreher, 2004; Maynard et al., 2011a; Pleus, 2012), we are witnessing rapid changes in these perspectives and the introduction of entirely new ones, and this is where our second edition begins.

Our first edition focused on nanotechnology “risks” (however defined)—their identification, regulation, and management. In doing so, our focus was much broader than just the development and commercialization of consumer products; potential, plausible and/or possible risks from all parts of the landscape were drawn together in that volume. That theme remains at the core of this second edition, but new perspectives have been introduced that probe the concepts of sustainable nanotechnology (see Chapter 16), applications of nanoinformatics to predict toxicological risks (see Chapter 8), and the plausibility of specific nanotechnology-driven human and/or environmental health risk scenarios (see Chapter 14). If the period from 2005 to 2010 could be characterized as a time of highly reactionary perspectives about nanotechnology risks (Renn and Roco, 2006; Hodge et al., 2010), then the current decade appears to have set out on a path toward applying what we have learned about nanotechnology EHS risks to help realize the promise that nanotechnology offers in achieving a more sustainable future (Smith and Granqvist, 2010; Maynard et al., 2011b; Roco et al., 2011).

Previously, little was known or understood about nanotechnology risks—basic toxicology of engineered nanomaterials, reliable characterization strategies, environmental fate and transport, occupational hazards, applicability of current governance schemes, and many other areas were in their infancy or largely unexplored (Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, 2004). Many key questions remained unanswered, making it difficult for policy makers, industry, and the scientific community at large to make evidence-based decisions (Hodge et al., 2010; Boverhof and David, 2010; Falkner and Jaspers, 2012; Gottschalk and Nowack, 2011; Klaine et al., 2012). And although many knowledge gaps remain, particularly with respect to chronic exposures to certain engineered nanomaterials, we now find ourselves armed with some basic and fundamental information on potential nano risks that can be translated into positive action (Chaudhry et al., 2010; Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks, 2009; Grieger et al., 2012; Johnston et al., 2013; National Academies, 2013). It is still too early to tell which specific action/s (or indeed inaction/s) will be taken, by whom, and when, and whether or not they will yield their desired outcomes.

Further, and what may come as a surprise to some, we are really just scratching the surface of what is possible through nanoscale science and engineering. The nano-enabled materials and products of the future will likely come with risks and challenges that appear much different from what we are dealing with at present. And these are the issues that will likely serve to frame future editions of this book. One thing is certain—as our ability to manipulate matter at the nanoscale continues to evolve at a rapid pace, so too must our efforts to assess and reassess our understanding of the risks that accompany those technological breakthroughs.

And why is that, exactly? Why must we continue to concern ourselves with the risks that accompany emerging nanotechnologies? The answer to this question has been illustrated vividly through global events that have transpired in the years since we published the first edition of Nanotechnology Environmental Health and Safety. We are constantly reminded of the risks that new technologies pose in our daily lives. In 2010, shortly after our first edition appeared in print, the world experienced the “largest offshore oil spill in history” as the failure of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer released more than 4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (Camilli et al., 2010). Effects of the initial explosion and the subsequent oil spill were catastrophic—11 workers died in the initial blast and the fire that consumed the oil drilling platform; impacts on marine mammals, fish, invertebrates, vegetation, and fragile wetland ecosystems were far reaching with long-term effects still largely unknown (Schenkman, 2010; Grattan et al., 2011; Kerr et al., 2010). Questions surrounding the safety of commercial seafood harvested from the affected areas resulted in the federally mandated closings of fisheries (Water, 2011). The economic impacts were, and indeed still are, severe (Smith et al., 2010; McCrea-Strub et al., 2011).

While debates continue regarding the specific events leading up to the disaster, most have concluded that a combination of “risky planning” (however defined and interpreted), too little cement, and the failure of certain safeguards (e.g., the blowout preventer) were all contributing factors (National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, 2011). Further, although the depth of the well was not particularly unreasonable for current drilling technologies, water depth and environmental conditions were major factors in inhibiting efforts to halt the release of oil into the Gulf. It is safe to say that the drilling technology had far outpaced our ability to minimize risks, albeit through state-of-the-art risk assessment and management processes, or through regulation. In short, it was a tragic reminder of how risky implementation of new technologies can have far-reaching negative impacts on workers, the general public, and the environment.

What have we learned from the Gulf oil disaster, and other arguably preventable large-scale incidents? Further, how can we apply these lessons as we attempt to identify and manage emerging risks associated with the design, production, commercialization, and end-of-life issues that nanotechnologies give rise to? Despite the complexity and multifaceted nature of this question, we are now at a stage where lessons have been learned and insights gained. We know, for example, that:

early warnings regarding potential risks should not be ignored, but they very often are (Gee and Stirling, 2003);

characterization and measurement—of chemicals and their basic properties, environmental variables, and a range of other factors—are critical to mounting an effective response when accidents occur (Miles, 2010);

biological and environmental systems are both resilient and fragile in the most unexpected ways, and studies to better understand the complex interactions of new technologies with these systems are needed;

regulation provides important protections, but is only effective when implemented and applied adequately by those who are vested with the power to do so;

ambiguities, in science, policy and regulation, can be exploited;

systematic transparency and accountability is fundamental to effective risk management in any organization; and

precautionary safety measures should not be compromised in favor of economic gains, and yet they frequently are.

Contributions to our second edition address in the context of emerging nanotechnologies these issues that have proven time and again to be so critical in both identifying and mitigating the risks of new technologies. In Chapter 2, the lessons and warnings are set out, but the key is whether or not, and to what extent stakeholders will listen and act in a precautionary, timely, and appropriate manner. A few governments ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Foreword
• List of Contributors
• Section 1: Precaution
• Section 2: Progress
• Section 3: Perspectives
• Section 4: Sustainability
• Index