Nanoparticles cross the blood-brain barrier, posing a significant threat to human DNA and that of other life forms. Currently, the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Environmental Protection Agency allow nanoparticles in pesticides and in the food supply, with no regulation whatsoever.
Tell the federal government to ban these particles under the precautionary principle until they are proven safe: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0197-0031
NanoAction advises, “Nanotechnology is a powerful new platform technology for taking apart and reconstructing nature at the atomic and molecular level. Just as the size and chemical characteristics of manufactured nanoparticles can give them unique properties, those same new properties–tiny size, vastly increased surface area to volume ratio, high reactivity–can also create unique and unpredictable human health and environmental risks.”
In 2008, NanoAction filed a petition demanding “that the EPA regulate nano-silver as a unique pesticide that can cause new and serious impacts on the environment. The hundred-page petition calls on EPA to: regulate these nanotechnology products as new pesticides; require labeling of all products; assess health and safety data before permitting marketing; analyze the potential human health effects, particularly on children; and analyze the potential environmental impacts on ecosystems and endangered species.”
Last month, the FDA finally released draft guidelines – which are voluntary — and is seeking public comment.
This month, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy has reissued the call for public comments on this dangerous new technology. In their report, Racing Ahead: U.S. Agri-Nanotechnology in the Absence of Regulation, IATP notes:
“At least 1,300 products with Engineered Nanotechnology Materials (ENMs) have been commercialized, despite myriad uncertainties about the public health and environmental effects of ENMs.
“The range of food and agricultural nanotechnology applications includes making toxins more bio-available in pesticides, targeting nutrients in smaller doses, improving the texture of ice cream and detecting bacteria in packaged foods. Under current rules, companies have the discretion to determine whether a macro-substance already considered by the company to be safe and therefore not reportable to the FDA, deemed to be likewise safe and hence non-reportable in its nano-scale form. In addition, the exponentially larger surface-to-mass ratio of ENMs, compared to that of macro-versions of the “same” materials, will make the determination of Acceptable Daily Intakes impossible if companies are not required to submit data to regulators for their independent assessment.”
IATP also reports that the UN’s Codex Alimentarius also fails to regulate nanofoods and other nanomaterials.
Tell the federal government to ban these particles under the precautionary principle until they are proven safe: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2010-0197-0031
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