Tuesday, 12th December 2006 (4440 views)

New US regulations will aim to improve the use of gold and silver nanoparticles in order to protect the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to introduce regulations to ensure that any product made with nanoparticles does not present a risk to the consumer or the environment, reports the Washington Post.

There has been increasing concern that small nanoparticles of silver could be posing health risks, especially when released in the domestic sewage system. Products such as air fresheners, shoe liners and food-storage containers could contain the high-tech nanoparticles.

Recently there has been strong investment in the field of nanoparticles, especially as the use of gold manufactured on a nanoscale could help provide a number of solutions across a wide range of sectors including cancer treatment.

However, the EPA's decision to regulate the industry could undermine such ongoing development and add significant costs to the process as well as increasing research time periods but will aim to ultimately make the technology safer.

 

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