Novel Materials in the Environment:
The case of nanotechnology
12th November 2008: launch of the Commission's 27th report on Novel Materials
On 12th November 2008, the RCEP published its latest report on Novel Materials in the Environment: The case of nanotechnology.
The report was prompted by concerns about potential releases to the environment from industrial applications of metals and minerals that have not previously been widely used. As the majority of the evidence the Commission received was almost entirely focussed on manufactured nanomaterials, the Commission decided to focus on this sector, as an exemplar. The report examines issues related to innovation in the materials sector and the challenges and benefits arising from the introduction of novel materials (specifically nanomaterials).
The report makes recommendations on how to deal with ignorance and uncertainty in this area, which could also be applied to other areas of fast-paced technological development.
The consultation exercise on the subject for this latest study, held between October and December 2005, yielded a substantial number of helpful responses, and the Royal Commission were grateful to all who contributed. Having considered all the responses, the Royal Commission decided that the environmental effects of novel materials and applications would be the most appropriate topic for the study. It was well supported, and repressents an area where, with the exception of nanotechnology, little work has been carried out to date.
The new study began in late 2006 with a scoping phase, and as part
of that phase the Commission is sought to identify the issues and
areas it would be most appropriate for the new study to investigate.
A seminar [pdf,35KB]
will took place on 11 January 2007 to identify concerns and issues that
the study might explore. The Commission then invited the submission of detailed
evidence on specific issues that the study would cover.
Four supplementary reports were commissioned as part of the study (available for download from 12th November):
- Regulation and the Chemical Industry (Mariana Doria, University of Trento, Italy) [pdf, 268KB]
- Exposure, Uptake, Distribution and Toxicity of Nanomaterials (Professor Stephen Holgate, University of Southampton (UK) and former Member, RCEP) [pdf, 314KB]
- Literature review on Toxicology of Novel Materials (Tamara Galloway, Peninsular Medical School, UK) [pdf, 164KB]
- Nanomaterials Innovation Systems: Their Structure, Dynamics and Regulation (Paul Nightingale and colleagues, SPRU, UK) [pdf, 608KB]
Background to the New Study
Novel materials, along with new forms and applications of existing chemicals are continually being developed to help make technological advances and improve performance, mainly in the fields of engineering and IT, but also in many other fields. An example of such a development is rhenium, which has previously been just a waste product from copper mining. It is now used in nickel alloys for jet engines, enabling them to fly at temperatures at about fifty degrees centigrade higher than previously, so lowering fuel consumption.
Nanotechnology and nanoscience are also developing at a rapid pace. Current uses include sunscreens based around microfine particles, car bumpers made from nanocomposites and coatings made from titanium dioxide nanoparticles to produce self cleaning windows 1.
Lately, governments have started to look into this issue, developing policies and funding research. The majority of work carried out in this field has been on nanoscience and technology. The Royal Society in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering published a policy document called "Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties" in July 2004. The report was wide-ranging and included a section on the environmental effects of nanoscience and technology. The UK government published its response to that report in February 2005, and agreed that further research on environmental effects would need to be carried out.
The Office of Science and Technology has set up the inter-governmental Nanotechnology Issues Dialogue Group (NIDG) which will co-ordinate Government activities in this field, and provide evidence to inform the Council for Science and Technology's two and five year reviews of Government's progress on this issue.
Defra is also looking at the environmental effects of these new technologies, using the Royal Society's report as a basis. The Advisory Committee on Hazardous Chemicals has received a number of presentations on the subject. The European Commission also published a 4 year action plan on nanotechnology in June 2005.
The environmental impacts of other new materials, such as rare earth metals in electronic components, in use or in development appear to be less well-studied.
The study will be addressing UK policies and programmes and will make recommendations to the UK government, but the Commission will also look at work being carried out at the EU and global level.
Broad Topics to be Covered
Novel materials and applications cover a wide range of scientific, engineering and technological fields. There are a number of possible ways to subdivide this topic into categories for investigation and how to do this for the purposes of the Royal Commission's report was one of the first issues to be addressed. An example of this is demonstrated by the European Commission who has divided the field into four for the purposes of its research programme, including:
• Crosscutting materials technologies : This involves developing novel materials with wide ranging application potential, and includes nanotechnology, surface engineering and materials processing technologies;
• Advanced functional materials : This involves highly advanced materials with multi-sector use, including electronics, magnetic / optical materials, sensors and industrial systems and biomaterials;
• Sustainable chemistry : This covers the development of sustainable industrial chemistry with efficient use of resources and recycled materials, such as chemical engineering, advanced chemical reactions and chemistry for new materials;
• Structural materials : This covers all types of engineering 2.
As novel and advanced materials and applications are released into industrial processes and the market place, they will be affected by, and have effects on the environment. The expansion of work in this area and the raising of its profile has meant increased interest and awareness in the subject. The Royal Commission intended to carry out a wide-ranging investigation, looking at different categories of novel materials and applications, including nanomaterials, positive and negative environmental impacts of novel materials, risk assessment and management, the regulatory framework and the identification of research gaps.
Broad topics that it was thought could be covered included:
• the development process of new materials;
• the life-cycle analysis of these materials;
• toxicity and eco-toxicity issues;
• what the potential impacts on human health in terms of environmental exposure are;
• what the potential environmental impacts are, both positive and negative, along with possible ways of dealing with them;
• whether novel materials and applications are adequately regulated under existing environmental regulations;
• waste issues: some products containing novel materials have a short lifespan and may not be recyclable.
The breadth of this study was potentially very wide, depending on the definition of novel materials used. Therefore, the Commission took the decision not to investigate the use of GM technology, nor the human health aspects of pharmaceuticals or medical devices.
Invitation to submit views on the key issues
The Commission requested views and information to help it to set the scope of the study. The purpose of this phase of the study wass to obtain an overview of current thinking about the topic, broadly defined, and to gather sufficient background information to enable the Commission to formulate their own expectations for the study; the roles they expected the report to fulfil and what audience(s) they intended for the report. At the end of this phase, the Commission defined the issues the report should cover.
The list of issues given above was not intended to be comprehensive or definitive and the Commission were glad to have other significant issues drawn to their attention, together with views on the specific questions that should be investigated. A seminar on the study was be held in autumn 2006.
The letter was addressed to over 100 organisations (listed in the annex) that were particularly likely to have useful experience. It was also sent to the Commission's counterpart bodies in other European countries. The text of the responses will be placed on the Commission's web site at: http://www.rcep.org.uk . Details of the study were also publicised in a news release.
A further invitation was issued, asking for written evidence on more specific questions. The Commission used the preliminary views and information sought here to target the written evidence exercise. This call for written evidence was sent to both recipients of the letter and a wider group of organisations and individuals.
You can view the evidence submitted here. The RCEP makes publically available all the information submitted as part of the the evidence gathering phase of its studies, unless explicitly asked not to.
List of bodies and organisations to which the announcement and request for information was sent
Advanced Materials Department, Cranfield University
Advanced Materials Research Institute, Northumbria University
AEA Technology
Begbroke Directorate, University of Oxford
Biffa Waste Services Ltd
Bionanotechnology IRC
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
BOC Edwards
British Embassy, Washington
British Medical Association
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
British Standards Institute
CEFAS
CBI Belfast (Northern Ireland)
CBI Scotland
CBI Wales
CEFIC
Cenamps
Centre for Environmental Control and Waste Management, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
Centre for Environmental Risk, University of East Anglia
Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey
Centre for Materials Research, Queen Mary College, University of London
Centre for Microfluidics and Microsystems Modelling, CCLRC
Centre for Nanoscale Science, University of Liverpool
Chemical Industries Association
Chief Medical Advisor, DH
Chief Scientific Advisor, OST
Collaborative Research Network in Nanotechnology, University of Birmingham
Confederation of British Industry
Cranfield Health - Bioscience and Technology, Cranfield University
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Department for Transport
Department of Chemistry, University of Hull
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield
Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)
Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Aberdeen
Department of Geography, University College London
Department of Health
Department of Materials Engineering, University of Wales, Swansea
Department of Materials, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
Department of Materials, Queen Mary College, University of London
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge
Department of Materials, University of Oxford
Department of Metallurgy and Minerals, University of Birmingham
Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester
Department of Physics, Heriot-Watt University
Department of Physics, University of Bath
Department of Physics, University of York
Department of Trade and Industry
Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, University of Birmingham
Economic and Social Research Council
Electronics Institute, Aston University
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Environment Agency
Environmental Defense
Environment, Planning and Countryside Committee, National Assembly for Wales
European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC)
European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry
European Commission DG Environment
European Commission DG Health and Consumer Protection
European Commission DG Research
European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils
European Nanotechnology Trade Alliance
Food Standards Agency
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Forum for the Future
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth, Cymru
Friends of the Earth, Scotland
Fullerene Science Centre, University of Sussex
Green Chemistry Network, University of York
Green Chemistry Institute, USA
Greenpeace UK
Health Protection Agency
Health and Safety Executive
House of Commons Select Committee on Environmental Audit
House of Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology
ICI Measurement Science Group
IENS Lancaster University
Institute for Materials Research, University of Leeds
Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
Institute of Nanotechnology
Institute of Occupational Medicine
Institute of Polymer Technology and Materials Engineering, Loughborough University
Institute of Photonics, University of Strathclyde
Institute of Physics
IRC in Nanotechnology
Kodak Ltd
Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University
Materials Department, Cranfield University
Materials Research Group, Kingston University
Materials Science Centre, University of Manchester
Medical Research Council
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
Merck Chemicals Ltd
Micro and Nanotechnology Network
Ministry of Defence
National Consumer Council
National Institute for Environment and Science, University of Cambridge
National Physical Laboratory
National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection
Natural Environment Research Council
NI Environment & Heritage Service
OECD
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Polymer IRC
Polymer Science Centre, University of Reading
QinetiQ
Qinetiq Nanomaterials Ltd
Research Councils UK
Research Services Division, University of Cambridge
School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, Nottingham-Trent University
School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews
School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds
School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton
School of Life Sciences, Napier University
School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department
Scottish Microelectronics Centre, University of Edinburgh
Society of Chemical Industry
Sustainable Development Commission
The British Academy
The Engineering Forum
The Green Alliance
The National Assembly for Wales
The Polymer Centre, University of Sheffield
The Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Society
The Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Scottish Executive, Health Department
The Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament, Environment and Rural Development Committee
Thomas Swan and Co Ltd
UK Centre for Materials Education
UK Energy Research Centre
UK Environmental Law Association
UK Microsystems and Nanotechnology Manufacturing Association
Unilever
United States Environmental Protection Agency
University of Edinburgh
University of Liverpool
University of Sussex
Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick
Wolfson Centre for Materials Processing, Brunel University
WWF UK
Invitation to submit written evidence
The Royal Commission issued an invitation to submit written evidence at the end of April 2007. Anyone was welcome to contribute and the deadline was 20 July 2007.
References
1 Defra Science Notes: Nanoscience and the Environment
2 Taken from the website of the European Union, European Commission Research Directorate General: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/growth/gcc/ga01.html#top
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