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 Dr.
Andrew D. Maynard
Chief Science Advisor, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Talk Title: Nanotechnology Oversight: Managing Potential Risk in an Uncertain World
Abstract
Nanotechnology has been described as a transformative technology, an enabling technology and the next technological revolution. Even accounting for a certain level of hype, a heady combination of investment, rapid scientific progress and exponentially increasing commercialization, point towards nanotechnology having a fundamental impact on society over the coming decades. However, enthusiasm over the rate of progress is increasingly being tempered by concerns over possible downsides of the technology. Real and perceived adverse consequences in areas such as asbestos, nuclear power and genetically modified organisms have engendered skepticism over the ability of scientists, industry and governments to ensure the safety of new technologies. As nanotechnology moves towards widespread commercialization, not only is the debate over preventing adverse consequences occurring at an unusually early stage in the development cycle; it is also expanding beyond traditional science-based risk management to incorporate public perception, trust and acceptance.
Having appropriate oversight frameworks in place will be essential to the sustained development of nanotechnologies. These will need to address potentially new risks presented by engineered nanomaterials, and be responsive to the rapidity with which nanotechnologies are being discovered, developed and used. Existing oversight frameworks may be sufficiently robust to address new technologies with little modification, although some commentators suggest that this is unlikely. Either way, too little oversight could be as damaging to fledgling nanotechnologies as too much oversight.
Biographical Sketch
Andrew Maynard is an internationally recognized leader in the research
fields of aerosol characterization and the implications of nanotechnology
to occupational health. In 2005, he joined Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars at The Smithsonian Institution as Chief Science
Advisor for their Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.
In 2000, Dr. Maynard joined the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). At NIOSH, he established a groundbreaking
research program in ultrafine aerosol analysis, and was instrumental
in developing NIOSH’s nanotechnology research program. He
also was a member of the U.S. government’s Nanomaterial Science,
Engineering and Technology subcommittee of the National Science
and Technology Council (NSET), and co-chaired the Nanotechnology
Health and Environment Implications (NEHI) working group of NSET.
Dr. Maynard received his Ph.D. in ultrafine aerosol analysis at
the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in the United
Kingdom (UK). Prior to working for NIOSH, he led aerosols characterization
research at the Health and Safety Executive (UK). His expertise
covers many facets of aerosols and health implications, from occupational
aerosol sampler design to state of the art nanoparticle analysis,
as reflected in over 70 publications and many invited lectures.
Links:
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies:
www.nanotechproject.org
Managing the effects of nanotechnology. J. Clarence Davies: .www.nanotechproject.org/file_download/30
An inventory of nanotechnology consumer products:
www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts
An inventory of nanotechnology impact research:
www.nanotechproject.org/inventories
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