CIELAP’s
report, released today (May 21, 2008), reviews some of the recent
developments in nanotechnology and discusses strategic priorities for
attempting to manage this technology with all its actual and potential
risks and benefits, in a responsible manner. The paper provides specific
recommendations for Canada
and concludes with a proposed timetable for implementing seven of
CIELAP’s recommended actions. The study was researched and written by
Susan Holtz, CIELAP’s Senior Policy Analyst. The paper is an update of
CIELAP’s March 2007 Discussion Paper on a Policy Framework for Nanotechnology.

The full report can be downloaded from the CIELAP website

Please also note Martin Mittelstaedt’s May 21 article: Strict guidelines urged for nanomaterials in the Globe and Mail.

CIELAP’s news release is provided below
and can be downloaded from the CIELAP website:

Consumers uninformed about nanomaterials in common products

New CIELAP report calls for mandatory labeling of nanomaterials in
cosmetics, personal care products, and cleaning agents

(Toronto,
May 21, 2008) – In Canada,
approximately 80 companies have been identified as working on products that
contain nano-materials. The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and
Policy (CIELAP) released a report today its report entitled Update on a
Framework for Canadian Nanotechnology Policy. This paper examines gaps in
nanotechnology policy in Canada
and makes a number of recommendations for the Canadian government,
including the mandatory labeling of nanomaterials in selected products.

“This field is so new that very little is known about the behaviour
of nanoparticles in the environment,” says Susan Holtz, CIELAP Senior
Policy Analyst and author of the report. “Substances at the nanoscale
are more biologically reactive and toxic than at the (larger) micro- or
macro-scale. Tissue damage to lungs, brains, and hearts has been found in
animal species exposed to carbon nanotubes and buckyballs and a 2005 study
of buckyballs in the environment discovered that they are toxic to soil
bacteria.”

Coatings and powders containing nanoscale particles are now being used in
consumer products to make fabrics stain-resistant or for ultraviolet
protection in sunscreen and cosmetic creams. Nanoscale silver inhibits
bacterial growth and is used to coat wound dressings.

While no one knows whether the nanomaterials in sunscreens and other
personal care products are toxic or otherwise harmful, a comprehensive
regulatory regime won’t be in place in Canada for some time. Even
cosmetic labels, for which Canada
now requires full ingredient disclosure, are not required to reveal the use
of nano-scale particles. Neither do other products, including food. The
federal government has been making some positive progress on regulating
nanotechnologies but CIELAP believes there are a number of areas where
interim measures should be initiated much more quickly.

CIELAP’s paper provides seven timeline benchmarks for its
recommendations to government. These include:

• a Canadian inventory of nano activities and products (by May 2009);

• worker safety and public health guidelines for research and
industry (by August 2009);

• the banning of nanomaterials in food and some food packaging (by
November 2009); and

• mandatory labeling of nanomaterials in cosmetics, personal care
products, and cleaning agents (by May 2010).

“Over the past decade we’ve seen an enormous expansion in
research and development of nanotechnology,” says Anne Mitchell,
Executive Director of CIELAP. “Nanotechnology has great potential to
contribute to breakthroughs in medicine, electronics, energy conservation
and environmental clean-up. But caution is needed. It’s a great worry
that products are being developed without much obvious concern for possible
problems, and that nanomaterials are already being sold in consumer
products when there are so many unknowns.”

For further information please contact: Carolyn Webb, CIELAP 416-923-3529
ext 26; cell 416-219-7585; carolyn[a]cielap.org

This brief 11-page report and a backgrounder are available at www.cielap.org.

Founded in 1970, the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
(CIELAP) is an independent environmental law and policy research and
education organization.

Media Backgrounder: Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of materials
at the nanoscale, the scale of atoms and molecules. It is valuable because
at this scale materials can exhibit novel properties that are different
from the same substance’s properties at the macro or even micro
scales. Since 2006, the number of consumer products using nanotechnology
has almost tripled from 212 to more than 600. Many more products are
expected in fields including medical applications, cosmetics, industrial
coatings and environmental sensors and remediation.