EPA, EU Launch Research Strategies for Nanotechnology

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union (EU) have announced separate plans to study nanotechnology, a field believed to have huge potential in food processing and packaging. EPA’s strategy involves studying over the next several years how manufactured nanomaterials may harm human health and the environment. “EPA’s role among federal agencies is to determine the potential hazards of nanotechnology and develop approaches to reduce or minimize any risks identified,” according to an EPA news release. The research will use a “multidisciplinary approach that examines all aspects of nanomaterials in the environment, from their manufacture and use to their disposal or recycling.”

EU plans to develop a strategy on how best to reap the economic benefits of nanotechnology because of its “exceptional importance for being at the forefront of managing the shift to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy,” according to an EU news release. “Mastering such technologies lays [a] stable foundation for well-paid jobs in the EU and allows for sustainable, broadly shared growth. The EU still faces significant obstacles in achieving the wide and timely industrial deployment of these technologies.” See EPA News Release; EU News Release, September 30, 2009