• Popular
    • Medicine
    • Radiology
    • Cardiology
    • Surgery
    • Nanomedicine
    • Military Medicine
    • Rehab
  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS
  • Submit PR
  • Log in
Medgadget
Medgadget
  • Popular
    • Medicine
      Biobots Use Optogenetic Muscle Actuators for Movement

      Biobots Use Optogenetic Muscle Actuators for Movement

      Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Medgadget Visits Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Medgadget Visits Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Camera Measures Blood Pressure with Quick Look

      Camera Measures Blood Pressure with Quick Look

    • Radiology
      Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

      Fluorescence Imaging System Illuminates Tumor Depth

      Fluorescence Imaging System Illuminates Tumor Depth

      Soft Robot Grows Like a Plant to Travel Through Tight Spaces

      Soft Robot Grows Like a Plant to Travel Through Tight Spaces

      Mining Ultrasound Data to Improve Liver Diagnostics: Interview with Beth Rogozinski, CEO at Oncoustics

      Mining Ultrasound Data to Improve Liver Diagnostics: Interview with Beth Rogozinski, CEO at Oncoustics

    • Cardiology
      Belt Monitors Heart Failure Patients

      Belt Monitors Heart Failure Patients

      Camera Measures Blood Pressure with Quick Look

      Camera Measures Blood Pressure with Quick Look

      Monitoring Congestive Heart Failure Through Speech: Interview with Tamir Tal, CEO of Cordio Medical

      Monitoring Congestive Heart Failure Through Speech: Interview with Tamir Tal, CEO of Cordio Medical

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

    • Surgery
      Biobots Use Optogenetic Muscle Actuators for Movement

      Biobots Use Optogenetic Muscle Actuators for Movement

      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Electrospun Construct Mimics Elasticity of Blood Vessels

      Electrospun Construct Mimics Elasticity of Blood Vessels

    • Nanomedicine
      Extra Hot Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

      Extra Hot Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

      Making Tumors Tastier for the Immune System

      Making Tumors Tastier for the Immune System

      Improved Membrane Coating for Anti-Cancer Nanoparticles

      Improved Membrane Coating for Anti-Cancer Nanoparticles

      Magnetic Bacteria Target Tumors

      Magnetic Bacteria Target Tumors

    • Military Medicine
      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

      Fabric Makes Electricity from Movement to Power Wearables

      Fabric Makes Electricity from Movement to Power Wearables

      Wearable Uses Microneedles to Track Metabolism

      Wearable Uses Microneedles to Track Metabolism

    • Rehab
      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Implantable Device Adheres to Muscle, Treats Atrophy

      Non-Invasive Spinal Modulation for Cerebral Palsy

      Non-Invasive Spinal Modulation for Cerebral Palsy

      Implanted Magnets for Prosthetic Control

      Implanted Magnets for Prosthetic Control

      FDA-Approved At-Home Spirometer: Interview with Charvi Shetty, Co-Founder and CEO at Aluna

      FDA-Approved At-Home Spirometer: Interview with Charvi Shetty, Co-Founder and CEO at Aluna

  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Log in
  • Submit PR
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS

FDA Asked to Oversee Nanotech Safety

May 18th, 2006 Medgadget Editors Society

The WaPo is reporting that a coalition of consumer and environmental groups have legally petitioned the FDA to start regulating nanomaterials in consumer products. The action coincided with the release of a study by Friends of the Earth, an intense environmental group, titled “Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks.”.
From the press release by Friends of the Earth:

Cosmetics companies are using ingredients that include nano-scale metal oxides, carbon spheres called “fullerenes,” and “nanocapsules” designed to penetrate deeper layers of skin. Friends of the Earth believes its survey represents only a small sample of the cosmetics and personal care products containing “free” engineered nanoparticles now on store shelves.
Carbon fullerenes, which are used in some face creams and moisturizers, have antibacterial properties and have been found to cause brain damage in fish. Even low levels of exposure to fullerenes have been shown to damage human liver cells.
The summer sunbathing season presents an urgent dilemma as consumers use heavy amounts of sunscreen to ward off harmful ultraviolet rays, and in doing so unwittingly expose themselves to additional risk. Nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide-used in large numbers of cosmetics, sunscreens and personal care products-have been shown to be photoactive, producing free radicals and causing DNA damage to skin cells when exposed to UV light.
Nowhere are nanomaterials entering consumer products faster than in the personal care and cosmetics industries. Use of personal care products such as certain shampoos, conditioners, lotions, and toothpastes poses a clear risk of exposure to untested nanomaterials because these products are used daily and are designed to be used directly on the skin. They may be inhaled and are often ingested. Because of their size, nanoparticles are more readily taken up by the human body than larger particles and are able to cross biological membranes and access cells, tissues and organs that larger particles cannot.
While the jury is still out on whether nanomaterials can enter intact skin, studies show that broken skin is an ineffective barrier and enables particles up to 7,000nm in size to reach living tissue. This suggests that the presence of acne, eczema or shaving wounds is likely to enable the uptake of nanoparticles into the body. Furthermore, many cosmetics and personal care products contain ingredients that act as “penetration enhancers,” raising concerns they may increase the likelihood of skin uptake of nanomaterials and possible entry into the blood stream.
In a 2004 report, the United Kingdom’s Royal Society–one of the oldest and most respected scientific bodies in the world–recommended “ingredients in the form of nanoparticles should undergo a full safety assessment by the relevant scientific advisory body before they are permitted for use in products.” Despite this warning, companies are rushing to incorporate nanomaterials into their products and cosmetics in a vacuum of independent safety testing. Two years after the Royal Society’s report, there are still no laws governing the use of nanomaterials in consumer products to ensure they do not cause harm to the public using them, workers producing them, or environmental systems into which waste nanoproducts are released.
“We’ve seen many ‘wonder’ materials with early warning signs, including but by no means limited to asbestos, DDT and PCBs,” Archer said. “The failure of government regulators to take seriously the early warning signs surrounding nanotoxicity suggests they have learned nothing from this long list of disasters.”

Get your CVs ready: FDA’s future Center for Nanotechnology will be looking for qualified personel. Bureaucracies rarely turn down a chance to regulate.
More in the press release…
Friends of the Earth nanotechnology page…
The study (.pdf)…
Legal petition (.pdf) to the FDA…

Medgadget Editors

Medical technologies transform the world! Join us and see the progress in real time. At Medgadget, we report the latest technology news, interview leaders in the field, and file dispatches from medical events around the world since 2004.

Sponsored
New Clarius Power Fan HD3 Delivers a First for Handheld Ultrasound: Continuous Scanning

New Clarius Power Fan HD3 Delivers a First for Handheld Ultrasound: Continuous Scanning

Fluidx Unveils New Embolic for Neurovascular Use

Fluidx Unveils New Embolic for Neurovascular Use

Annalise.ai and Nuance Communications (a Microsoft Company) Announce Key Partnership to Improve Patient Outcomes with Workflow-Integrated AI

Annalise.ai and Nuance Communications (a Microsoft Company) Announce Key Partnership to Improve Patient Outcomes with Workflow-Integrated AI

PT Genie Unveils New Brand Identity Reflecting Company’s Transformation and Focus on the Global Future of AI and Machine Learning in Digital Healthcare

Clarius Marketplace Unlocks the Power of AI Innovation for Ultrasound Imaging

Clarius Marketplace Unlocks the Power of AI Innovation for Ultrasound Imaging

interviews & reviews
Balance Boards to Stay Active in the Offfice: Interview with Joel Heath, CEO of FluidStance 

Balance Boards to Stay Active in the Offfice: Interview with Joel Heath, CEO of FluidStance 

Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

Exciting Medtech at the Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

Medgadget Visits Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

Medgadget Visits Healthcareᐩ Expo Taiwan

Diabetes Management Tech for Type II patients: Interview with Jeffrey Brewer, CEO of Bigfoot Biomedical

Diabetes Management Tech for Type II patients: Interview with Jeffrey Brewer, CEO of Bigfoot Biomedical

Monitoring Congestive Heart Failure Through Speech: Interview with Tamir Tal, CEO of Cordio Medical

Monitoring Congestive Heart Failure Through Speech: Interview with Tamir Tal, CEO of Cordio Medical

In-Office Pediatric Ear Tube Procedures: Interview with Preceptis Medical's Greg Mielke

In-Office Pediatric Ear Tube Procedures: Interview with Preceptis Medical's Greg Mielke

Symani Microsurgical Robotic System: Interview with Mark Toland, CEO of Medical Microinstruments

Symani Microsurgical Robotic System: Interview with Mark Toland, CEO of Medical Microinstruments

  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Submit
  • About
  • Back to top
Medgadget

Medical technologies transform the world! Join us and see the progress in real time. At Medgadget, we report the latest technology news, interview leaders in the field, and file dispatches from medical events around the world since 2004.

  • About
  • Editorial policies
  • Contact
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Submit press release
  • Advertise
© Medgadget, Inc. All rights reserved. | The Medical Revolution Will Be Blogged.
Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!
Posting....
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email