To Label or Not to Label? - It’s More than a Nano-Sized Question

Nanotechnologies use techniques, processes and materials in the approximate range of 1-100 nanometres (nm) in order to create novel properties and to stimulate particular desired functionalities. Nanotechnologies and various nanomaterials are likely to profoundly affect a wide range of industrial sectors, including energy production and storage, health care, consumer products, textiles, and agriculture amongst others. Despite the perceived benefits of the technology, there has been an increasing number of calls for governments and other stakeholders to evaluate the adequacy of current health and safety regulatory regimes so as to ensure the effective regulation of current and anticipated applications. In response to these calls, governments in several jurisdictions have initiated in-house or commissioned independent regulatory reviews, each of which has been designed to determine the appropriateness of these regulatory regimes to manage the potential risks of the technology. At the same time, a number of commentators have expressed their concern over the perceived limitations and gaps in these frameworks. In light of the increasing international discourse in this field, there is increasing pressure from all sectors of society to determine how nanotechnologies are, and will be, regulated as they evolve