Regulation needed

Calls for regulating nanotechnology better are on the increase around the world. New Zealand’s no exception.

Stephanie Howard from the Sustainablity Council believes regulators here have taken a lax approach to the growing use of nanotechnology in consumer products. “New Zealand’s current policy is broadly to allow all comers on to the market and hope that nothing goes wrong. Government apparently doesn’t know what products are on the market: there’s no risk assessment, no official register of products containing nanomaterials and no post-market monitoring.”
 
The Sustainablity Council says there are many products available in our stores that are believed to contain nanomaterials. As well as high-end cosmetics, these products include sportswear, soap, shampoo, cleaning fluid and washing machines. It says these products have been able to creep on to the market without regulatory scrutiny.
 
Dr Simon Brown, associate professor in physics at Canterbury University, agrees. “The default position has been to do nothing. There’s a very significant number of products in shops and current regulations don’t police them,” he says. “There’s no shortage of areas of concern about nanomaterials. We simply don’t know enough about the risks they pose and there’s a strong argument for sensible precautions to be put in place."
 
The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology is the lead government agency for nanotechnology. In response to mounting criticisms, it’s announced a review of existing legislation to assess whether our laws are adequate for dealing with nanotechnology developments. However, the results of this review aren’t due out until July 2010 at the earliest.

Nano foods

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) argues that the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code provides consumer protection for food substances derived from nanotechnology. This is because all manufacturers have to guarantee that their products are safe before they can be sold. According to FSANZ it will conduct “a rigorous safety assessment with the best available scientific evidence” before approving food substances containing nanotechnology.
 
What that stance leaves open is what happens if scientific research shows that some nanotechnology food products or types of packaging are no longer safe. We think it should take a more precautionary approach until more is known about the effect of nanotechnology in this area.

• FSANZ factsheet: www.foodstandards.gov.au