Call for moratorium on commercial nanomaterials

July 30, 2002 | Source: Nanodot

ETC Group (“dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights”) calls for “an immediate moratorium on commercial production of new nanomaterials [and for launching] a transparent global process for evaluating the socio-economic, health and environmental implications of the technology.” ETC Group cites an EPA meeting where it was claimed that “nanoparticles are showing up in the livers of research animals, can seep into living cells, and perhaps piggyback on bacteria to enter the food chain,” and notes that there is no regulatory body “dedicated to overseeing this potent and powerfully invasive new technology.”