LIFE IN A NANO WORLD:

Nanotechnology and the Environment

 BY CHRISTOPHER GOHLKE

Some great advancements have come with great concerns. Historically, new technologies raised people’s standards of living and transformed science and medicine, but they sometimes also produced health risks, environmental hazards or the depletion of natural resources.

Take fossil fuels, for example. Before they were discovered as a source of energy, there were no lamps or Fords or air conditioners. In fact, resources like coal and petroleum revolutionized everything, and they are often cited as the ultimate forces propelling forward the industrial revolution in the United States and abroad.

At first, fossil fuels were so plentiful and beneficial that few people realized there were risks involved in using them as sources of energy. Now, of course, we know that fossil fuels have both pros and cons.

But that’s old news. What some experts are calling the next big thing in science, others have dubbed the next big environmental concern. So which is it?

The Debate

Nanotechnology, the hottest new development in science, is on the brink of revolutionizing medicine and computers and the way we see the world. Nevertheless, a debate is brewing, and the experts disagree on whether nanotechnology will harm the environment or help to protect it.

One side says it’s too soon to widely use nanotechnology without further studying its unintended effects. The other side says the field has been very promising so far, and negative consequences are unlikely.

One thing they both agree on, though, is that in the wake of revolutionizing science, nanotechnology has raised some questions that we’ve yet to answer.

Nanotechnology could be very beneficial in the near future. It’s touted as the possible key to curing cancer and blindness and is being utilized today by everyone from IBM to NASA. But with all the benefits that are expected to go along with this new technology, the experts are split on how it might impact the environment.

The Research

The National Nanotechnology Initiative, a cooperative effort combining the work of 23 U.S. federal agencies, has a particular focus on trying to figure out that quandary.

Members of NNI include the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, among others, with the common goal of supporting the responsible development of nanotechnology.

One organization funded by NNI is the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, one of the first organizations to study the interaction of nanotechnology and the environment.

Kristen Kulinowski, a researcher at CBEN, said nanoscience is developing at a rate faster than scientists can fully understand it. She said that is nothing new to scientists, though – she claimed that almost every new technology develops faster than researchers can comprehend its impact.

“Government regulators and companies and others have to understand how to operate in a climate of uncertainty with respect to the risks,” she said. That means taking common sense precautions, limiting exposure to possible risks, and developing new screening protocols for assessing those risks, she said.

Louis Wright, a physics professor at Ohio University, disagreed with Kulinowski’s statement that nanoscience is developing faster than scientists can understand it.

“One has to be careful with new technologies, but I don’t see much in nanoscience that is scary,” he said. He cited an “anti-science bias” in the media that causes people to fear new technologies, especially those dealing with nanoscience.

Wright oversaw Ohio University’s nanoscience program when he chaired the Department of Physics and Astronomy there. While he acknowledged that there might be some downsides to nanotechnology, he said they wouldn’t likely outweigh the benefits.

“The physics of the system would suggest that the more nanoscience devices that are developed, the better it will be for the environment,” he said. “Usually, making various processes smaller uses fewer natural materials and leads to less waste and use of power.”

The Impact

Kulinowski said she and her fellow researchers at CBEN have been cautious about examining nanoscience. Much of the center’s research has focused on nanoparticles, or microscopic particles studied at the nano scale.

“There is some concern that nanoparticles specifically may have unintended actions in the environment with respect to their fate, transport and transformation,” she said.

The center has researched how nanoparticles naturally break down, whether or not they can “leach out” of their containers after being disposed of, and whether or not those things could be hazardous to the environment.

Wright, on the other hand, has lauded the positive aspects of nanotechnology’s impact on the environment.

“If dramatic improvements in solar cells or maybe the use of biological systems to convert sunlight into usable energy are made with nanoscience, this would have dramatic positive effects on the environment,” he said.

Like any issue, however, not everyone stands solely on one side of the debate or the other. In an interview with TreeHugger, an online magazine geared toward environmental issues, Harvard professor and nanoscientist George Whitesides took a moderate stance on the issue.

Whitesides listed both pros and cons to the use of nanotechnology in regards to the environment.

On the upside, nanotechnology could be the key to developing better fuel cells, practical solar power and mass water purification processes. On the other hand, nanoparticles in particular present a unique challenge to governmental regulators – the tiny particles “behave” differently than the ones organizations like the EPA are used to regulating.

The Future

Like the members of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, several other groups are joining together to study the way nanotechnology affects the earth.

ICON, or the International Council on Nanotechnology, was created to bring together groups interested in nanoscience – including governments, universities and industry leaders – to study the future of nanotechnology. Members of the council include researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, along with a number of scientists representing universities and corporations from around the world.

The goal of the council is to discuss nanotechnology research and to promote the responsible development of the nanoscience industry, similar to the ambitions of the NNI.

If nanoscientists have a chance at predicting the future of their field, then collaboration seems to be the key to unlocking the mysteries they are working toward uncovering. When and how they fully understand the way nanoscience will affect the environment is uncertain. With meticulous scientists studying the ins and outs of nanotechnology, however, the world will at least be adept enough to prepare for the nano revolution.