Tag Archives: House of Lords Science

Peter Julian’s interview about proposing Canada’s first nanotechnology legislation (part 2 of 3); more on the UK Nanotechnologies Strategy; Dylan Thomas, neuroscience and an open reading

This is part 2 of an interview with Member of Parliament, Peter Julian, NDP (New Democrat Party) who tabled the first Canadian bill to regulate nanotechnology. Yesterday’s part of the interview featured some biographical notes about Mr. Julian and his answers to questions about why he, in particular, tabled the bill; the NDP’s shadow science minister’s (Jim Malloway) involvement; and the NDP’s commitment to science policy. Today, Julian explains why he favours the application of the precautionary principle to nanotechnology, notes the research he used before writing his bill, and comments on a national inventory scheme. NOTE: As some folks may prefer other media or summaries/commentaries on these reports, in situations where I have additional material, I’ve taken the liberty of giving links, clearly marking my additions.

Why do you favour applying the precautionary principle which has received some criticism as it favours the status quo?

I believe that the precautionary principle does not favour the status quo. The status quo hinders appropriate applications of precaution. Environmental, health, and safety gaps in the application of Nanotechnology are a shared concern between countries, as reflected in recent reports to Congress and the EU and at the OECD. Precaution towards discovery, product, production, use and eventual disposal is simple common sense.

The precautionary principle deters action without reflection. When a product is massively put on the market we have to be sure that it will not have adverse effects on health and the environment, and not just a short lived positive effect on the bottom line.

What research materials support your (BILL) and are these materials that you would recommend interested citizens read?

I have a list of links concerning these materials:

ED. NOTE:  I offered some commentary here and links to other commentaries here about this report.

  • The Chatham House briefing paper, Regulating Nanomaterials: A Transatlantic Agenda (September 2009) an excellent eight page read:

http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/774/

ED. NOTE: There is a Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN)webcast of a presentation by the folks who authored the report. The webcast and speaker presentations can be found here and my commentary on the webcast here.

ED. NOTE: PEN webcast a presentation by J. Clarence Davies on Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology available here along with a speaker’s presentation and additional materials.

  • The National Nanotechnology Initiative document lays out a substantive, and sound, research program. Canada’s strategy remains limited in scope and vision.

http://www.nano.gov/NNI_EHS_Research_Strategy.pdf

I noticed mention of a public inventory for nanomaterials and it reminded me of a proposed Environment Canada nanomaterials inventory or reporting plan that was announced in January 2008. Do you know if this inventory ever took place or what its current status is?

The inventory is not completed yet. The bill develops a mandatory requirement for an inventory and there have been no prior operational inventories regarding nanotechnology products, which is why this bill is so important.

I would like to stress that in addition to the precautionary principle, Bill C-494 is built on a definition of Nanotechnology that adopts a broader and more inclusive definition of nanomaterials. This is consistent with the findings of the UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee:

  • We recommend that the Government should work towards ensuring that any regulatory definition of nanomaterials proposed at a European level, in particular in the Novel Foods Regulation, should not include a size limit of 100nm but instead refer to ‘the nanoscale’ to ensure that all materials with a dimension under 1000nm are considered.A change in functionality, meaning how a substance interacts with the body, should be the factor that distinguishes a nanomaterial from its larger form within the nanoscale.

UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee
Nanotechnologies and Food (8 January 2010)
Recommendation 12, p.76

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldsctech.htm

This is in contrast with Health Canada policy which looks at narrow definition of nanomaterials:

  • Health Canada’s Science Policy Directorate announced the adoption of the Interim Policy Statement on Health Canada’s Working Definition for Nanomaterials and its posting on the Health Canada website 2 March 2010. This Government of Canada policy adopts a 1-100nm “inclusive” regulatory benchmark, effective immediately, with a public comment period underway.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/consult/_2010/nanomater/index-eng.php

ED. NOTE: I made an error in my question, the proposed nano inventory by Environment Canada was announced in Jan. 2009. My postings on the announcement are here and here. The odd thing about the announcement was that it was made initially by PEN which is located in Washington, DC and subsequently picked up by Canadian news media. As far as I know, Environment Canada has never offered comment about its 2009 plan for a nanotechnology inventory.

Tomorrow Julian wraps up with answers to questions about why someone who’s shadow portfolio includes international trade is interested in nanotechnology and the potential costs for his proposed legislation.

Peter Julian interview Part 1, Part 3, Comments: Nano Ontario, Comments: nanoAlberta

More on the UK 2010 Nanotechnologies Strategy Report

Dexter Johnson over on Nanoclast has done some detective work in a bid to understand why the market numbers used in the report differ wildly from anyone else’s. From Dexter’s posting,

It [the report] quotes market numbers for nano-enabled products that are such a drastic departure from most estimates that it leaves one questioning why tens of billions of dollars are being poured in by governments around the world to fund research.

If you have it, do take the time to follow along as Dexter  trails the company that the UK government used as its source for their market numbers. Amongst other names, I recognized one, ObservatoryNANO. (It was an organization I followed briefly and dismissed as being frivolous.)

One other commenter has emerged, Tim Harper. Now as the  principle of a nanotechnology business consulting company (Cientifica) some might be inclined to dismiss his comments but they have the ring of honest frustration and a sincere desire to contribute. From Harper’s posting,

Every UK nanotech report to date has excluded any data provided by UK companies. Even offers of free copies of our market research to government committees looking into various bits of nanotechnology provoke the same response as if we’d offered them a fresh dog turd wrapped in newspaper.

And now for a complete change of pace,

Dylan Thomas and neuroscience

There‘s an event tonight  (Thursday, March 25, 2010) in Vancouver being put on by the Dylan Thomas Circle (he lived in North Vancouver for a time as he worked on Under the volcano). It’s being held at the Red Dragon Pub at the Cambrian Hall on 17th & Main St.  Doors open at 6:45 pm and the presentation starts at 7:30 pm followed by an open reading. From the news release,

THE DYLAN THOMAS CIRCLE OF VANCOUVER presents

“Dylan Thomas, Creativity and Neuroscience”

Ariadne Sawyer will lead an exploration into creativity and the creative process as manifest through the works and the life of Dylan Thomas. She will investigate why we are creative, what happens during the creative process and what effect it has upon us.

This will be followed by an intermission and an: ‘OPEN READING’: an invitation to everyone who is interested to read aloud a poem or literary excerpt of their choice. This can be your own work, Dylan’s work or any other writer’s material. Most importantly, it is our chance to indulge in a little of our own creativity and to do it in a relaxed and in a friendly atmosphere.

About Ariadne Sawyer:

Ariadne has done on line Performance Plus Coaching with trainees from England, France, Canada and the United States for the last two years. She has received the Award of Excellence given by McLean-Hunter for the Brain Bulletin Series. Ariadne publishes an electronic newsletter called: Ariadne’s Performance Plus Newsletter along with Performance Plus Tips which are sent to all the participating trainees. She also co-hosts a weekly radio program on CFRO 102.7 FM, which has been on the air for the past two years. The Performance Plus Mini Course has been presented on the show with astounding success. She has two electronic courses available soon on the Internet. Performance Plus Level One and the Performance Plus Diplomacy Course. Ariadne has worked with trainees from Europe, the US and across Canada.

Other responses to the nanotechnologies and food report by UK House of Lords Committee; The Economist weighs in on Canada’s prorogued parliament; Typographic amusement

After posting my responses to the report (House of Lords Committee on Science, Technology and Industry: Nanotechnologies and food) late yesterday, it’s interesting to see what other people are saying. As per the headlines, most of the focus has been on the food industry’s secrecy about its nanotechnology research. Here are a couple samples at BBC News and at Nanowerk. I was a little surprised to see that Andrew Maynard extolled the two sections (regulation and communication) that I thought were the weakest.  Andrew’s review is here. He also deconstructs a ‘tabloid science’ article about the report in the UK’s Daily Mail here to discover that there’s some good reporting hidden after the headlines.

I don’t usually comment on the doings of the Canadian Parliament and I’m not breaking with my own tradition since Stephen Harper, for no apparent reason, has prorogued parliament until March 2010. I gather I’m not the only one who’s somewhat upset, The Econ0mist has been scathing in its criticism of the move as per this article at CBC News and at least one poll indicates that the Canadian populace is not amused.

For a complete change of pace (and thanks to an article by Fast Company’s Cliff Kuang), I’m going to direct you to a website where you can discover which typeface best expresses your personality,

What Type are You? (Password: Character)

Typefaces are fascinating to me and this sit is a lot of fun if you share the interest. You might want to read Cliff Kuang’s article first so the analyst doesn’t surprise you. Also, I must confess it took me a few too many minutes to figure out what to do and the analyst made sure I was aware of it in a most amusing fashion.

Happy weekend!

Quick peek at nanotechnologies and food report from UK House of Lords

After getting  an advance copy of the new report from the UK’s House of Lords Science, Technology and Industry Committee (mentioned in my post of Jan.5.10), I spent a good chunk of the day reading it. These are fast impressions:

  • it seemed quite thorough relative to the scope of the investigation and from the perspective of a Canadian who hasn’t seen her own government investigate and make public information about the state of any nanotechnology research, I found this to be quite refreshing
  • there was something strange about the benefits and that strangeness was the focus on obesity and waste…much else is mentioned but obesity and waste (i.e. reducing both) are strongly emphasized as possible areas where benefits could be experienced.
  • secrecy on the part of the food industry’s nanotechnology research was noted and discussed at length with an analysis that was both sympathetic to the industry’s concerns (i.e. that there would be a replay of the GM and food irradiation controversies and/or competition would be inhibited) and adamant that adopting secrecy as a strategy is wrong-minded.
  • nanotechnology research in the UK is coordinated through a single agency (I believe that’s true in the US as well but it’s definitely not the case in Canada).
  • they were quite critical of the current toxicology research efforts, irrespective of nanotechnology, there aren’t enough toxicology researchers in the UK as well there’s a specific problem with the nanotoxicology, i.e. knowledge gaps (from the report [and they are quoting from a previous report], pp. 34-5 ),

EMERGNANO report states that “this review of ongoing studies has failed to demonstrate that there is any comprehensive attempt to gain the toxicokinetic … data required to reach the aims of hazard identification” and there have been “no systematic studies on the potential of different kinds of nanoparticles to get into the blood, the lymph or the brain”. We find this conclusion worrying.

We are disappointed and concerned that the Research Councils have not adopted a more pro-active approach to encourage and stimulate research bids in areas where existing mechanisms have so far proved ineffective. Dr Mulkeen told us that the MRC would take “more active steps if needed” to develop research into the safety of nanotechnologies (Q 420). We feel that a more pro-active stance is essential given the lack of progress in several key areas to date.

  • some of the difficulty re: nanotoxicology research seems to be attributable to the funding structure (from the report p. 35),

The 2007 review by the CST concluded that the primary reason for the Government’s slow progress on health and safety research was due “to an over-reliance by Government on responsive mode funding, rather than on directed programmes by Government departments to deliver the necessary research”.44 A number of witnesses supported this view. Professor Donaldson, for example, told us: “If we look at the Royal Academy/Royal Society report, there was a really important paragraph that there should be a central core-funded chunk of research and expertise brought together to design a programme that would look systematically at nanoparticle toxicology, and that was ignored. We had response mode funding where people just put forward what they wanted to do, so what you get is piecemeal” (Q 267).
Professor Jones also alluded to the relative strength of research investigating nanoparticle toxicology in the lung compared to a lack of research into the
gut as a result of response-mode funding (Q 494).

  • there is a huge difference between the funds for nanotechnology research (one agency spent 220 million pounds on nanotech research over a 5 year period) and funds for nanotoxicology research (less than 600,000 pounds per annum or less than 3 million pounds in a five year period) which I imagine is much  the same elsewhere.
  • they do mention Canada as a country that has announced a mandatory register of nanomaterials which will include information on safety data (this register has been referred to in other reports but no one ever cites a source and I’ve never been able to confirm that this register is actually being developed).
  • in their recommendations for regulatory enforcement they seemed to be reinforcing the status quo or bringing the UK into line with current European Union practices.
  • in the last bit they discuss communication, i.e. there should be yet another survey of public attitudes although this will be about nanotechnologies and food, they acknowledge the government’s decision to create a new website on the subject, they’d like it if the government would work with the industry folks to become more open about their research, there won’t be blanket labelling of nanotechnology on  food products, and they think public engagement should be undertaken.

The last two bits, regulation and communication, are the least developed sections of the report. I found that overall there was a good balance between sympathy for industry interests and concern for health issues. Some of the strongest language in the report was used in the sections on nanotoxicology and its lack of research.

Forthcoming report by UK House of Lords on nanotechnologies and food; Nike uses nanocoating for new running shoe; quick reference to OECD scorecard; funny technology predictions

Later this week (Jan.8.10), the UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will be releasing a report on nanotechnologies and the food industry. From the news item on Azonano,

The Committee has been looking in detail at the use of nanotechnologies in the food industry and has explored how these technologies are likely to develop. It has considered where government might need to develop regulations and effective communications to ensure public confidence is maintained.

The news item (media advisory) tells you who to contact if you want to attend a press conference, interview the principals, and/or get your hands on the embargoed report in advance.

For most people nanotechnology continues to be something associated with sports equipment and clothing and the latest  from Nike will do nothing to change that. From the news item on Azonano,

Sneakerheads will get an additional performance benefit with the latest launch of Nike Lunar Wood TZ. Using technology by P2i, the world leader in liquid repellent nano-coating technology, Nike’s new lightweight and comfortable running shoe will keep wearers dry during the wettest of winters.

P2i’s ion-mask™ technology applies a nanoscopic protective polymer layer to the whole shoe, on which water forms beads and simply rolls off, instead of being absorbed. Because ion-mask™ gives the whole shoe (including the stitching) superior water repellency, it delivers two crucial benefits; one, it stops external water getting in and two, it encourages evaporated perspiration to flow out.

According to P2i, this coating technology (ion-mask) is environmentally friendly. I have mentioned them before but the last time was in relation to military and police use of their coating technology.

The OECD has released its Science, Technology and Industry ‘scoreboard’ which also includes individual country notes for seven countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and US). I have looked at some of the country notes and some of the material in the scoreboard online. Unfortunately, this is one of those things I find easier to read in print as they have set up a system that requires a lot of clicking. The news item on Azonano is here, the link to information about the scoreboard, country notes, and more is here, and the link to the web version of the scoreboard document is here. Or you may want to wait for Rob Annan’s (Don’t leave Canada behind) promised in his Jan.4.10 posting comments and analysis.

Thanks to the NISE (Nanoscale Informal Science Education) Network January 2010 newsletter, I found a Wall Street Journal (online) article by L. Gordon Crovitz on technology predictions that has these gems,

“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys,” Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the British Post Office, 1878.

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” H.M. Warner, Warner Bros., 1927.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers,” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night,” Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

“The world potential market for copying machines is 5,000 at most,” IBM executives to the eventual founders of Xerox, 1959.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home,” Ken Olsen, founder of mainframe-producer Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

“No one will need more than 637 kb of memory for a personal computer—640K ought to be enough for anybody,” Bill Gates, Microsoft, 1981.

“Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput,” Sir Alan Sugar, British entrepreneur, 2005.

It’s a good read (there are more gems) but I can’t laugh too hard as whenever I need to take myself down a peg or two I remember my first response to VCRs. I didn’t see any point to them.

Finally, thanks again to the NISE Net newsletter for the monthly haiku,

Cash @ nanoscale:
Nickel, copper, zinc atoms…
My account balance?
by David Sittenfeld, Program Manager of Forums at the Museum of Science, Boston.