Posted: March 30, 2007

Nanotechnology newsletter addresses potentials and pitfalls of nanomedicine

(Nanowerk News) Nowhere is the promise of nanotechnology more highly anticipated than in the field of medicine, but the safety of nanomedicine has not yet been widely discussed. The April issue of nanoRISK addresses this issue with its lead article – "The Potentials and the Pitfalls of Nanomedicine".
nanoRISK newsletter
It is difficult to find fault with a technology that promises to cure cancer almost before it starts but the first critical voices appear. A recent article in the Medical Journal of Australia states that safety regulation of nanotherapeutics may present unique risk assessment challenges, given the novelty and variety of products, high mobility and reactivity of engineered nanoparticles.
In Europe, two reports (SCENIHR and a white paper by the International Risk Governance Council) emphasize the lack of data on potential risks associated with nanomedicine.
As always, this issue of nanoRISK includes numerous briefs on papers, initiatives, and upcoming events.
Nanowerk’s nanoRISK newsletter provides a wealth of risk-related nanotechnology information, compiled in one comprehensive, easy-to-read newsletter, on scientific research, regulatory updates and informed opinion about the risks posed by engineered nanoparticles and what is being done about them.
“This newsletter is not about stopping nanotechnology or scaring people,” says Michael Berger, nanoRISK editor. “It is about providing a wealth of nanotechnology information, compiled in one comprehensive, easy-to-read newsletter, on scientific research, regulatory updates and informed opinion about the risks posed by engineered nanoparticles and what is being done about them.”
nanoRISK supports the debate on a very real and immediate issue – the fact that engineered nanoparticles are already finding their way from laboratories into commercial products and yet nobody really knows the effects they could have on living beings and the environment. Current toxicological and eco-toxicological risk assessment methodologies are not suited to the potential hazards associated with engineered nanoparticles.
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