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Legal Action Filed to Outlaw Dangerous Nano-Silver Products 6-26-08
The International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) and a group of
consumer, health, and environmental groups have filed a legal petition with the
Environmental Protection Agency demanding the agency use its pesticide
regulation authority to stop the sale of several consumer products that are now
using nano-sized versions of silver. This legal action is the first challenge of
the EPA's failure to regulate nanomaterials.
It is becoming more common for manufacturers to infuse a large and diverse
number of consumer products with nanoparticle silver (nano-silver) for its
supposed "germ killing" abilities. Nano-silver is now the most common
commercialized nanomaterial. CTA found over 260 nano-silver products currently
being sold including household appliances, household cleaners, clothing,
cutlery, children's toys, and personal care products. As CTA's legal petition
stipulates, the release of this unique substance may be highly destructive to
natural environments and also has serious human health concerns.
Nanotechnology is a powerful new technology for taking apart and reconstructing
nature at an atomic and molecular level. As the size and chemical
characteristics of manufactured nanoparticles can give them unique properties,
these same properties may also create unpredictable human health and
environmental risks.
Silver is known to be toxic to fish and aquatic organisms and recent studies
have shown that nano-silver is much more toxic and can cause damage in new and
different ways. Exposures are occurring during use as well as disposal. A 2008
study showed that washing socks containing nano-silver released substantial
amounts of the nano-silver into the laundry discharge water. This will
eventually reach natural waterways and will potentially poison fish and other
aquatic organisms. Another study found that releases of nano-silver can destroy
the beneficial bacteria used in wastewater treatment.
The legal petition demands that EPA regulate nano-silver as a unique pesticide
that has the propensity to cause new and serious impacts on the environment. The
petition calls on EPA to regulate these products as new pesticides; will require
labeling of all products; will assess health and safety data before permitting
marketing; will analyze the potential effects on human health, particularly on
children; and will analyze the potential environmental impacts on the
environment.
Many of the products named in the petition are either used by children (baby
bottles, toys, stuffed animals, and clothing) or have high human exposure
(cutlery, food containers, paints, bedding and personal care products). Studies
are now questioning whether traditional assumptions about the safety of silver
are adequate considering the unique properties of nano-scale materials.
Concerns over nano-silver were first raised by national wastewater utilities in
2006. A product (Samsung's SilverCare™ Washer) was found to release silver ions
into the waste stream of each load of laundry. In response to this the EPA
pledged to regulate nano-silver products as pesticides. However, a year later
the EPA published a guidance covering only the Samsung washer and has allowed it
to remain on the market.
The Center for Food Safety, Beyond Pesticides, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace,
ETC Group, Center for Environmental Health, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition,
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Clean Production Action, Food and
Water Watch, the Loka Institute, the Center for Study of Responsive Law, and
Consumers Union are all included in the CTA petition.
The law does not allow the agency to stand by without action while a new era of
toxic pollution emerges. The EPA needs to act to prevent a serious new
environmental issue from beginning. EPA must stop avoiding this problem and use
its legal authority to fulfill its statutory duties.
Comments:
This is scary, because silver is the only real weapon we have to easily make a mixture that can fight germ warfare. This is probably what they want.
This is a new are where we can do things we probably shouldn't! I can see why this is a concern, however this can easily be regulated by grouping nano-silver as a supplement. Than it cannot be used in clothing etc..
Silver is not the only metal that is creating a problem. Copper is Everywhere!