A coalition of environmental groups is urging the Food and Drug Administration to regulate nano-technology. The coalition wants to start with a recall of sunscreens that use nano-materials. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
A coalition of environmental groups is urging the Food and Drug
Administration to regulate nanotechnology. The coalition wants to start
with a recall of sunscreens that use nanomaterials. The GLRC’s Lester
Graham reports:
Nanotechnology uses materials as small as a protein molecule… about
one 80-thousandth of the width of a hair. The consumer advocates and
environmental groups say the use of nanomaterials has not been tested
for safety for human use or their impact on the environment.
George Kimbrell is the one of the groups, the Center for Technology
Assessment…
“We’re asking the agency to look into those effects as well, that is
environmental impacts as well as human health impacts of these products.”
Nanotechnology is being used in a variety of lotions and cosmetics and is
promoted as revolutionary technology. That’s because the particles can
get into the skin at the cellular level much more easily.
The environmental groups want the FDA to more strictly regulate
products containing nanomaterials until they are tested for safety.
For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.