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'Safe handling of nanotechnology' ten years on

Nature Nanotechnology volume 11, pages 998–1000 (2016)Cite this article

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In 2006, a group of scientists proposed five grand challenges to support the safe handling of nanotechnology. Ten years on, Andrew Maynard and Robert Aitken — two of the original authors — look at where we have come, and where we still need to go.

The early 2000s were turbulent times in the history of safe and beneficial nanotechnology. Alongside increasing interest in the potential benefits of nanoscale science and engineering, there was growing concern that emerging capabilities could present novel and emergent risks to human health and the environment. And despite the apparent promise of the technology, it became increasingly clear that there was a serious knowledge-gap regarding whether and how emerging nanomaterials might cause harm, and if so, how it might be avoided1.

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Figure 1: Estimated numbers of academic publications related to each of the four grand challenges, as an indication of research output.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrew D. Maynard directs the Risk Innovation Lab at Arizona State University, PO Box 875603, ASU, Tempe, Arizona 85387-5603, USA,

    Andrew D. Maynard

  2. Robert J. Aitken is Director of SAFENANO at the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AP, UK,

    Robert J. Aitken

Authors
  1. Andrew D. Maynard
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  2. Robert J. Aitken
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Correspondence to Andrew D. Maynard.

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Maynard, A., Aitken, R. 'Safe handling of nanotechnology' ten years on. Nature Nanotech 11, 998–1000 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.270

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