Lux Research warns of nanotech risks
A new report on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risks from nanotechnology: “Lux Research, one of a handful of investment advisory firms that focuses on nanotechnology companies, said corporations including Lockheed Martin and Kraft Foods Inc. spent $3.8 billion on nanotech research and development last year. Yet, it said corporate EHS officers are ‘mostly unaware of this activity.’ Furthermore, dozens of nanotech start-ups are mostly ‘dodging’ the topic in public presentations ‘for fear that they may be held legally liable in the futures for any admissions of risk made now,’ the study suggested.” Unfortunately, at this time the full report is only available to Lux clients.
June 20th, 2005 at 3:04 PM
I wonder if anyone at Lux or LockMart or Kraft has read Nanomedicine, Volume IIA: Biocompatibility. If they haven’t then all of the “sound and fury” is coming from people who haven’t done their homework.
Since “nanomolecules” are nothing more than somewhat more complex molecules that the chemical industry has been building for decades and which are well regulated from health and safety standpoints the entire discussion sounds like people who don’t know what they are talking about.
We have been dealing with these issues for a very long time — I have yet to see anything which suggests that we should deal with “nanomolecules” in any way differently from the way we would deal other new molecules given the lessons that DDT, PCBs, CFCs, MTBE, lead, asbestos, etc. have taught us