From 2020science.org:
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report on Novel Materials
Imagine for one naïve moment that we have a pretty good handle on
managing the environmental impact of existing manufactured “stuff”.
Then someone comes along and invents some “new stuff” that behaves very
differently from the “old stuff.”
How can we be sure that the frameworks and mechanisms in place for
preventing harm to the environment will work for the new stuff? And
where they are strained to breaking point, how do we go about fixing
the system?
These are two questions addressed in a new report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution—an
independent British standing body established in 1970 to advise the
Queen, government, Parliament and the public on environmental issues...
Of course, because this is for the Her Majesty The Queen, phrases like
“old stuff” and “new stuff” are conspicuous by their absence in the
report—which instead addressed the rather more sophisticated-sounding
issue of “Novel Materials in the Environment.”
This is, in effect, a report on the challenges of avoiding adverse
environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials. Coming four years
after the seminal report from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering
on nanoscience and nanotechnologies, it reflects both how thinking on
the challenges and opportunities presented by engineered nanomaterials
has advanced, and actions to ensure their safe use have not!
The report itself draws on extensive interviews with experts around the
world, and the depth and quality of the writing reflects this. Perhaps
not surprisingly, many of the recommendations arising from this process
will be familiar to readers—the challenges haven’t changed that much
over the years, and solutions still seem few and far between in many
cases...
[Follow the link to read more]