Reading the Small Print STORIES Industrial Pollution Was Easy to See, and So Were Its Effects

Copyright © 2004, The Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March/April 2004 ❖ COVER Reading The Small Print STORIES Industrial pollution was easy to see, and so were its effects. But what happens when the machines are microscopic, the products are smaller, and the emissions are smaller still? This is not science fiction. Nanotechnology products are already in use in cosmetics, materials, and electronic devices. Nanotech manufacturing is on the near horizon. Are our environmental laws up to the task? LYNN L. BERGESON and BETHAMI AUERBACH ric Drexler stated it well almost why — once environmental regulation be- two decades ago in his ground- came an accepted feature of the industrial breaking book Engines of Creation: landscape — traditional heavy manufactur- The Coming Era of Nanotechnology: ing demanded controls and cleanup mea- “Arranged one way, atoms make sures. It could be seen in the sooty skies and Eup soil, air, and water; arranged another, they dead rivers. By contrast, chronic, long-term make up ripe strawberries. Arranged one health effects and environmental contamina- way, they make up homes and fresh air; ar- tion from manufacturing activities some- ranged another, they make up ash and times were not so readily discernible, at least smoke. Our ability to arrange atoms lies at in their earlier stages, and this tended to the foundation of technology. For all our make them more worrisome. This was true advances in arranging atoms, we still use even when the actual components of a manu- primitive methods. With our present technol- facturing process — the various chemical ogy, we are still forced to handle atoms in substances and production processes them- unruly herds.” Drexler believes, as do many selves — were known and tangible things. others, that we stand at the cusp of truly re- The increasing commercialization of markable advances in our ability to operate nanotechnology raises similar concerns, at a at the molecular level and herd those “un- level where tangibility drops off. Minuscule ruly” atoms with incredible precision. in scale — which, viscerally, might make it Control over matter manipulation has tri- seem tamer — its very minuteness renders umphed in certain commercial markets, as ap- the technology invisible to the naked eye and plications of nanotechnology are already in unknowable to most of us, so that it can seem commerce. Nanoscale zinc oxides are used sinister in its diminutive size and in its fu- now in sunscreen lotions and scratch-resistant turism. The environmental and resource im- glass. Nanoscale fibers are used in stain-re- plications of nanotechnology, whether and sistant fabrics. Digital camera displays, high how its impacts should be regulated, and by resolution printer inks, and high-capacity what authorities are issues that are beginning computer hard drives are among the commer- to garner serious attention. This article con- cially available products of nanoscience and siders some of those issues. nanoengineering. This is plainly just the be- The drive to manufacture at smaller and ginning. Demand for domestic nanomaterials smaller levels is by no means new. Miniatur- in 2002 was estimated at $200 million and is ization is as much a logical extension of an- projected to grow an astonishing 33 percent a cient skills as it is a product of modern tech- year. The National Science Foundation has es- nology. Bulk technology, the term Drexler uses timated that nanotechnology applications to refer to modern manufacturing, is big, cum- may be valued at more than $1 trillion in the bersome, and dirty, and manipulates matter global economy by 2015. containing trillions of atoms and molecules. With such spectacular growth expected, Engineering achievements perfected over the federal government is mindful of the time allow the manipulation of matter to oc- regulatory implications that this “next big cur at smaller and smaller levels. Molecular thing” invites, particularly in that this “big technology, or nanotechnology, is the inevi- thing” is so tiny. It was easy to understand table result of the relentless quest to control 30 ❖ THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Copyright © 2004, The Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March/April 2004 ❖ matter at its most fundamental, molecular nanomachines designed to take apart objects level. at the atomic level; and replicators, entities that This is the world of the truly small. To help can make copies of themselves. These more visualize, consider that an atom is 1/10,000 futuristic terms, which have inspired some of the size of a bacterium, and a bacterium is 1/ the less flattering and scarier images conjured 10,000 the size of a mosquito. The science and up by the thought of nanotechnology gone technology of controlling matter at the awry, continue to fuel the nightmare-scenario nanoscale is captured under the umbrella term that destructive nanoids could self replicate nanotechnology, and involves controlling the and turn everything into a gray goo — a spec- structure and properties of materials and sys- ter that threatens the viability of tems at the scale of a billionth of a meter — 1/ nanotechnology in much the same way the 100,000 the width of a human hair, or 10 times Franken-food hysteria has compromised bio- the diameter of a hydrogen atom. A billionth technology. of a meter is called a nanometer, which is the root of the neologism. Nanotechnology has spawned its own lexi- indful of nanotechnology’s Lynn L. Bergeson is a con. We are all familiar with a nanosecond, tremendous commercial founding shareholder of the speed within which we dream of accom- potential and desirous of and Bethami Auerbach is plishing many acts in our daily lives. Other being a leader in the race to Of Counsel to Bergeson & terms are less familiar. Top-down and bottom- distinguish the United Campbell, P.C., a up refer to two fundamentally different ap- States in the global nanotechnology arena, M Washington, D.C. law firm proaches to nanotechnology. Top-down is the federal government is and has been sup- making nanoscale structures by machining portive. To coordinate the not insignificant concentrating on techniques. Bottom-up is building organic and federal research and development programs industrial, agricultural, inorganic structures atom by atom, or mol- in the field, a federal interagency workgroup and specialty chemical ecule by molecule. As ap- was formed in 1996 to con- and medical device plied today, nanotechno- sider the creation of a Na- product approval and logy still is considered to be A review of tional Nanotechnology regulation, product at the more nascent (and Initiative, which was offi- defense and litigation, primitive) top-down stage existing statutes cially established in 2001. and associated business of development. But the shows an array of NNI goals are to conduct issues. The views ability to wield a tiny tool R&D to realize the full po- expressed herein are arm and, with the aid of a tential of nanotechnology, authorities that those solely of the highly powerful micro- to develop the workforce scope, engineer in such de- need to be wielded necessary to advance authors. sired qualities as strength these R&D efforts, to un- and conductivity at the in a coordinated derstand better the associ- most basic level is already fashion by ated societal, health, envi- enhancing everyday prod- ronmental, and ethical ucts while providing a overlapping considerations, and to fa- glimpse at new frontiers for cilitate the transfer of the future. Today we have agencies nanotechnologies into tennis rackets, strong but commercial applications. light, that incorporate car- Sixteen federal agencies, bon nanotubes, and we have slacks treated including EPA, participate in the Initiative, with a nanoengineered chemical formula so 10 of which have an R&D budget dedicated that coffee spills and red wine stains can be to nanotechnology. Other federal organiza- things of the past. Tomorrow, nano-engi- tions contribute to the Initiative through neered “smart dust” — tiny silicon particles studies and other forms of collaboration. The — may have the ability to move through an Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Tech- environmental medium, sense contaminants, nology Committee is the group that provides and warn of them by changing color. the primary coordinating mechanism for the Some of the more provocative terms asso- NNI. ciated with nanotechnology are uniquely At the request of the White House Eco- Drexler-esque and include assemblers, pro- nomic Council and the various NNI-partici- grammable molecular machines capable of pating agencies, the National Research Coun- building molecular structures from simpler cil agreed to review the NNI to assess the suit- chemical building blocks; disassemblers, ability of federal investments in nanotech- MARCH/APRIL 2004 ❖ 31 Copyright © 2004, The Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March/April 2004 ❖ nology, the inter-agency coordinating efforts national goals of protecting human health in this regard, and the Initiative’s research and the environment and of managing and portfolio. The NRC’s June 2002 report on its preserving dwindling natural resources of- review was overwhelmingly positive and fer many promising opportunities for commended the leadership and structure of nanotechnology. In the environmental and the NNI. Importantly, however, the

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