For the last three decades nanotechnology has emerged as an increasingly important scientific frontier that offers a realm of new possiblities for innovation. The ability to manipulate particles on the nanoscale opens up the opportunity to develop advanced medical diagnostics, improved construction materials, better sensors, and more efficient batteries - to name only a very few of the prospective applications. Yet the promise which nanotechnology holds also subjects us to new risks which are to a large degree still unknown, as these materials are so recent and so novel in design. Risks may lie in the laboratories where nanomaterials are developed, but also on production sites, in their use from exposure or wear and tear, and also during their disposal and eventual reintegration into the material lifecycle.
Nanoparticles act differently than these chemicals do in bulk or molecular form, something that is part of their appeal but which also makes it difficult to determine their eventual toxicity. Because they can take so many forms and be used in a multitude of ways, assessing and testing the risks they may present is complex and time-consuming. Nonetheless, consumer products that incorporate nanoparticles are proliferating on the market, making it imperative that nanomaterials be examined and regulated, for the sake of both consumer confidence and protection.
In this symposium we examine how various stakeholders in nanotechnology reason about the risks these innovative materials may contain. One paper explores the perspectives of the scientists that work with graphene - a miracle materials expected to generate numerous valuable new applications - while another paper examines the views of innovation advisors who work on the commercialization of some of the discoveries coming out of university laboratories. Finally, a third paper analyses the results of a web questionnaire concerning the risks and benefits of nanotechnology that was administered to an array of expert stakeholders from the field of nanotechnology.