Nanomaterial consumer product

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies nanomaterial consumer product inventory, available at http //www.nanotechproject.org/invento-ries/consumer/... 

Fabrication of the prototype is an important step in product development. It demonstrates that the various components can indeed be physically integrated to form the final product with the desired functionalities. Consider a UV sensor. While its functionality depends on the physical response of a certain nanomaterial in the presence of UV light, an electric circuit and a display system are required for a functional consumer product. The availability of a prototype is essential in test marketing, safety tests, reliability tests and so on. However, the development of consumer-oriented products often involves a considerable amount of trial-and-error, which can lead to costly delays in product launching [10]. 

Concurrent with the increasing development and uses of nanomaterials, there is an equal effort in studying their potential toxicity. Titanium dioxide, for example, is widely used in food products and cosmetics and considered safe, but studies of nano titanium dioxide particles which are small enough to enter the body in several ways may be toxic according to some studies. The expanded use of nanofillers in consumer products has generated safety concerns that have resulted in proposals for detailed studies by the Food and Drug Administration. ... 

Nanotechnology promises significant advances in fuel cells, environmental remediation, drug delivery systems, energy efficient fighting, and many other fields. Consumer products as diverse as sunscreens, tennis balls, food storage containers, and clothes washing machines contain nanomaterials. 

The Project on Emerging Nano techno Igies (PEN) identified 1015 consumer products that contain nanomaterials as of August 2009. Using the PEN database and others, the EPA estimated that there are 91 nanomaterials manufactured for commercial purposes in those products, and a total of 234 nanomaterials that have been made for either commercial or research purposes. ... 

See, e.g., presentation shdes by Annette Santamaria Nanomaterials in Consumer Products Do They Pose a Hazard from the International Conference on the Environmental Implications and Applications of Nanotechnology at The Environmental Institute (June 2009) available at http //www.umass.edu/tei/conferences/nanoconference/Nano%20Session %20PDF/Santamaria,%20Annette.pdf. 

Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, December 2007. Opinion on Safety of Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products. Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General, EC, Brussels. 

This was the headline announcing the first product recall for a consumer product incorporating nanomaterials. The recall occurred after multiple consumers were hospitalized with respiratory distress after using the spray. One of the concerns with nanotechnology is that nano-sized particles, due to their small size, can infiltrate the body s defenses by penetrating through the skin or lungs and into the blood supply. 

With recent advances in many areas of nanotechnology, including commercialization of some nanomaterials into consumer products, the risks of nanotechnology were inevitable. For the same reason that nanomaterials are unique in their properties, they are potentially dangerous to people and to the environment if they are not used and regulated with safety in... 

As reported in the European Union s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP), Preliminary Opinion on Safety of Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products, June 19, 2007. May be accessed online at http //ec.europa.eu/health/ph risk/committees/04 sccp/docs/sccp o 099.pdf Note Nanosized particulates are also present as micron-sized aggregates. 

Adlakha-Hutcheon, G., Khaydarov, R., Korenstein, R., Varma, R., Vaseashta, A., Stamm, H., Abdel-Mottaleb, M. (2009). Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology applications, consumer products, and benefits. Nanomaterials Risks and Benefits, 195-207. doi 10.1007/978 1-1020-9491-0 14. 

The pace of nanomaterials production and research into new applications is greatly in excess of the pace of toxicology testing and risk assessment. Although there are compelling reasons to believe that human exposures, whether occupational or consumer, are likely to be small (nanoparticles tend to agglomerate into larger particles when released into the air), actual evidence on this question has not been developed. 

Definition of the nanoscale covers all species having at least one diameter of 100 nm or less. When nanoparticles are intentionally synthesized to be used in a range of consumer goods, they are called nanomaterials. Without doubt, one can say that we are now at the beginning of nanoindustrial revolution. Different types of nanomaterials are frequently applied in electronics, space technology, cosmetics and sunscreens production, medicine and pharmacy, solar energetics, textile industry, sport equipment, and many other areas [22, 23]. 

---