Background to project

Sales of products incorporating emerging nanotechnology will rise from less than 0.1% of global manufacturing output today to 15% in 2014, totalling $2.6 trillion. This value will approach the size of the information technology and telecom industries combined and will exceed biotechnology revenues by 10 times, according to figures from a recent report by Lux Research, the world's premier research and advisory firm focusing on the business and economic impact of nanotechnology and related emerging technologies.1 According to a recent Frost and Sullivan Report, the European share of the World Nanobiotechnology Market is just 20%, compared to the 65% share which is held by the United States, and the remaining 15% share is held by the rest of the world.2

It is clear that as applications and uses of nanotechnology increase, so too will exposure to nanoparticles and nanomaterials. Our ancestors were exposed to only very limited types of particles throughout human evolution.3 These consisted mainly of suspended sand and soil particles and biological products such as pollens, most of which are relatively coarse and become trapped before going deep into the lungs. There have been nanoparticles in the environment consisting of minute crystals of salt, that become airborne by the action of waves, but these are not normally toxic as they are highly soluble salts. It is clear is that there were few particles smaller than 70 nanometers in diameter in the air throughout prehistory, until we learned to harness fire for use. This may mean that we have not built up any defences to nanoparticles.4 Certainly where, as for example in the case of asbestosis-induced mesothelioma, certain sizes and types of particle have been released into the environment, profound and unpredictable consequences on human health emerged. Ultimately the impact on many sectors of the developed worlds economy, from manufacturing to insurance, has been highly damaging.

To this day there exists no clear understanding of the nature and origin of the risks involved in the manufacture, processing, and use of small particles, both research and regulatory frameworks being at early stages of development.3 Juxtaposed with this concern is the growing opinion that it will be increasingly difficult to commercialise, indeed even to seek venture funding,5 for commercialisation of nano-systems, without having addressed the issues associated with risk. The potential socio-economic benefits for Europe in addressing these issues in a deep, structural and indeed timely fashion can hardly be overstated.

1. “Sizing Nanotechnology's Value Chain,” Lux Research Inc., 2005
2. Frost and Sullivan “World Nanobiotechnology Market,” 2005 3. European Commission “Nanotechnologies: A Preliminary Risk Analysis on the Basis of a Workshop Organized in Brussels on 1-2 March 2004 by the Health and Consumer Directorate General of the European Commission,” DG HCP, 2005
4. Howard, C. V. “A briefing note on nanoparticles”; Nanotechnologies: A preliminary Risk Analysis, 2004, Brussels.
5. NanoTrends. NanoTrends 2005, 2005, Munich.