Davies, J. Clarence --- "From Novel Materials to Next Generation Nanotechnology: A New Approach to Regulating the Products of Nanotechnology" [2010] ELECD 733; in Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew (eds), "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

Editor(s): Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446731

Section: Chapter 25

Section Title: From Novel Materials to Next Generation Nanotechnology: A New Approach to Regulating the Products of Nanotechnology

Author(s): Davies, J. Clarence

Number of pages: 26

Extract:

25 From novel materials to next generation
nanotechnology: a new approach
to regulating the products of
nanotechnology
J. Clarence Davies1


The promise of nanotechnology is enormous. Its applications span a very
wide range of processes and products. In the next few decades it will result
in huge increases in computer speed and capacity, cures for several dif-
ferent types of cancer, much more efficient lighting and battery storage, a
huge reduction in the cost of desalinating water, clothes that never stain
and glass that never needs cleaning. The benefits are almost limitless.
However, if the benefits are to be realized, it will be necessary to examine
and manage the adverse effects of nanotechnology.
The effort to understand and manage nanotechnology's effects will
be long-term. As the world community tries to ensure that adverse
effects of the technology are minimized, understanding of these effects
will steadily increase. At the same time, as the technology advances and
commercial applications multiply, new challenges and problems will
arise.
This chapter focuses on what a United States (US) oversight system
of the future might look like. Its purpose is to stimulate thought and dis-
cussion about how to bridge the huge gap between the current oversight
systems, which were developed in the twentieth century, and the new
technologies of the twenty-first century. Although the focus is on the US,
many of the problems and suggested solutions articulated in this chapter
are applicable to other developed nations as well. Before describing a new
...