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- Title
ADDRESSING NANOTECHNOLOGY WASTE AND PRODUCT DISPOSAL: CAN THE SUPERFUND SAFETY NET CATCH TINY PARTICLES?
- Authors
Breggin, Linda K.; Pendergrass, John
- Abstract
Nano-materials are rapidly finding their way into products in the marketplace. The very qualities that make nanomaterials of such interest to material scientists means that it is difficult to predict their effects on human health or the environment based on prior knowledge of the materials in their bulk form. To date relatively little attention has been paid to the environmental and health and safety issues associated with end of life disposal of nanoproducts or nano wastes. The US Superfund legislation provides a means to address hazardous substance contamination that the system has failed to address prospectively through other laws, and the article analyses the extent to which the current legislation would be applicable to remediate nano-materials which have been released into the environment. Core issues that will need to be addressed are whether a hazardous substance subject to current regulation automatically includes the substance in its nanoform; equally it needs to be recognized that if a bulk substance is not viewed as hazardous it does not necessarily follow that its nano form has the same properties. A systematic review of the Superfund legislation indicates that in theory it contains the basic elements for clean-up authorities to deal with nanomaterials, but the relevant authorities, and the Environment Protection Agency in particular, now need to address the issue directly.
- Subjects
NANOSTRUCTURED materials; ENVIRONMENTAL law; NANOTECHNOLOGY; NANOPARTICLES; HAZARDOUS wastes; POLLUTION
- Publication
Journal of Environmental Law, 2007, Vol 19, Issue 3, p323
- ISSN
0952-8873
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jel/eqm021