When Enough Is Enough

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When Enough Is Enough
Created by assoceditor on 16/07/2012 13:58:07

Researchers from The Technical University of Denmark note that governments and regulatory agencies keep asking for more reports and reviews of nanosilver, but question when they will start taking regulatory action.

In a commentary entitled "When Enough is Enough", published this month in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, authors Steffen Foss Hansen and Anders Baun, with the Technical University of Denmark, note that governments and regulatory agencies keep asking for more reports and reviews of nanosilver – but, they ask, when will they start taking regulatory action?

The European Commission asked its Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) in December 2011 to provide a scientific opinion and answer specific questions on nanosilver. Yet most of the questions – perhaps all – had already been addressed by no less than 18 review articles in scientific journals, plus at least seven more reviews and reports commissioned and/or funded by governments and other organisations, the authors claim.

'Many of these reviews and reports go through the same literature, cover the same ground and identify many of the same data gaps and research needs,' write the authors. They then go on to predict exactly what the SCENIHR report will say, concluding that the report is unlikely to reach any significant new insights. They write; 'By initiating one review after the other, regulators have created an unfortunate situation of 'paralysis by analysis'.'

The authors acknowledge that deciding how to regulate the use of nanosilver is not easy due to the differing views of stakeholders and the complex regulatory landscape, yet plenty of recommendations have been included in previous reviews. Little progress has been made in implementing any of these recommendations, however.

The authors state: 'Although it is common for independent scientific experts to be commissioned to gather, analyse and review the available scientific information, and to provide recommendations on how to address a given risk, we do not see the need for further reviews. It is time for the European Commission to decide on the regulatory measures that are appropriate for nanosilver. These measures should then be implemented wholeheartedly and their effectiveness monitored.'

Click here to access the commentary via Nature Nanotechnology.

A Spotlight Article on this paper, including an interview with the authors, has been published by Nanowerk.

Source: Meridian Nanotechnology & Development News

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