Nanotechnology Consumer Products Are in Your Mouth and On Your Face
WASHINGTON, April 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New nanotechnology consumer
products are coming on the market at the rate of 3-4 per week, a finding based
on the latest update to the nanotechnology consumer product inventory
maintained by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN).
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080424/DC20372 )
One of the new items among the more than 600 products now in the inventory is
Swissdent Nanowhitening Toothpaste with "calcium peroxides, in the form of
nano-particles." Today, in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, PEN
Project Director David Rejeski cited Ace Silver Plus -- another of the nine
nano toothpastes in the inventory -- as an example of the upsurge in
nanotechnology consumer products in stores. The hearing marks the start of
U.S. Senate debate on the future direction of the annual $1.5 million federal
investment in nanotechnology research and development (R&D).
The number of consumer products using nanotechnology has grown from 212 to 609
since PEN launched the world's first online inventory of
manufacturer-identified nanotech goods in March 2006. Health and fitness
items, which include cosmetics and sunscreens, represent 60 percent of
inventory products. The colorful and searchable list of nanotechnology
merchandise -- containing everything from nanotech diamonds and cooking oil,
to golf clubs and iPhones -- is available free at
www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts.
There are 35 automotive products in the PEN inventory, including the Hummer
H2. General Motors Corporation bills the H2 as having a cargo bed that "uses
about seven pounds of molded-in-color nanocomposite parts for its trim, center
bridge, sail panel and box rail protector."
Nanoscale silver is the most cited nanomaterial used. It is found in 143
products or over 20 percent of the inventory. Carbon, including carbon
nanotubes and fullerenes, is the second highest nanoscale material cited.
Other nanoscale materials explicitly referenced in products are zinc
(including zinc oxide) and titanium (including titanium dioxide), silica and
gold.
While polls show most Americans know little or nothing about nanotechnology,
in 2006 nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $50 billion in
manufactured goods. By 2014, Lux Research estimates $2.6 trillion in
manufactured goods will incorporate nanotechnology -- or about 15 percent of
total global output. Despite a 2006 worldwide investment of $12.4 billion in
nanotech R&D, comparatively little was spent on examining nanotechnology's
potential environmental, health and safety risks.
"Public trust is the 'dark horse' in nanotechnology's future," says Rejeski in
his testimony. "If government and industry do not work to build public
confidence in nanotechnology, consumers may reach for the 'No-Nano' label in
the future and investors will put their money elsewhere."
According to Rejeski, "The use of nanotechnology in consumer products and
industrial applications is growing rapidly, with the products listed in the
PEN inventory showing just the tip of the iceberg. Public perceptions about
risks -- real and perceived -- can have large economic consequences. How
consumers respond to these early products -- in food, electronics, health
care, clothing and cars -- is a litmus test for broader market acceptance of
nanotechnologies in the future."
Nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacture
things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is one billionth
of a meter. A human hair is roughly 100,000 nanometers wide. The limit of the
human eye's capacity to see without a microscope is about 10,000 nm.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies is an initiative launched by the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts
in 2005. It is dedicated to helping business, government and the public
anticipate and manage possible health and environmental implications of
nanotechnology.
SOURCE The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
Sharon McCarter, +1-202-691-4016, sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org, or Colin
Finan, +1-202-691-4321, colin.finan@wilsoncenter.org, both of the Project on
Emerging Nanotechnologies
