For the first time, an Australian regulator is proposing to regulate nanomaterials used in hundreds of cosmetics, sunscreens, clothes, paints and industrial chemicals. NICNAS wants to hear what you think about its plans to manage the health and environmental risks of nanoparticles. Please make a submission to support precautionary action. We have included some dot points below for you to consider making in your submission. Submissions need to be sent to Nicola.Hall[@]health.gov.au by 5pm Friday 12 February.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the UK's largest organic certifier the Soil Association, has written in the Daily Mail that public scepticism about nanofood should be heeded, and that nanotechnology should be kept out of food.

In a new report, the Science and Technology Committee of the UK House of Lords criticises industry secrecy surrounding the use and development of nanofoods. It also warns that the health risks of nanofoods remain poorly understood. However the committee rejected calls to recommend mandatory product labelling of nano-ingredients, a moratorium on the use of nano-ingredients in food until new safety assessment is introduced, and assessment of broader social implications of nanotechnology's use in food and agriculture.

Using sunscreen is important to help reduce the risk of developing skin cancer. So no-one wants to use sunscreens that may make sun damage worse. This summer's Safe Sunscreen Guide gives the Australian public brand information to choose nano-free. This year we also include secondary sunscreens (moisturisers, anti-ageing creams and mineral foundations).

Last year, the world was shocked to learn that some nanoparticle ingredients in Australian sunscreens behave as extreme photocatalysts. In a peer-reviewed study, researchers from BlueScope Steel found that 5 of 6 tested nano-sunscreens aggressively generated free radicals. Some of the sunscreens caused damage to pre-painted steel roofs that was 100 times faster than usual. Nanotoxicologists warned that these photoactive nanoparticles could pose risks to both sunscreen users and the environment.

This is reprinted from "A guest blog in the Alternative Perspectives on Technology Innovation series", hosted by Andrew Maynard's 2020 Science blog

The promise that a given new technology will deliver environmentally benign electricity too cheap to meter, end hunger and poverty, or cure disease is very seductive. That is why the claims are made with many emerging technologies – nuclear power, biotechnology and nanotechnology, to name a few.

New researched published in Nature Nanotechnology shows that nanoparticles can damage DNA and chromosomes in cells, across an intact barrier of other cells. The research suggests that nanoparticles could cause cancer, or even birth defects, without crossing biological barriers. It highlights the need for precautionary management of nanotechnology risks.