Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E reporter
Public health advocates today filed a lawsuit seeking to block U.S. EPA from allowing a nanomaterial used in clothing and baby blankets from going on the market because the health risks of the substance are unknown.
The Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) petition aims to overturn EPA's decision to conditionally approve nanosilver under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). It marks the first time ever that EPA's approval of a nanoscale chemical has been challenged in court.
Nanomaterials are approximately 100,000 times thinner than a strand of hair. They are increasingly used in consumer products, but little is known about their health effects.
Silver is a well-recognized antimicrobial, and being re-engineered in nanoform boosts its ability to kill bacteria. Consequently, companies have sought to use nanosilver in fabrics, food storage containers and hair dryers.
Last December, EPA conditionally approved a request from HeiQ Materials to sell nanosilver in fabrics, meaning the textiles could go on the market while the company conducts health and safety tests over the next four years.
"EPA gave this company a four-year free pass to sell an inadequately tested product," the NRDC's Mae Wu said in a statement. "EPA's approval of nanosilver is just the most recent example in a long line of decisions that treats humans and our environment as guinea pigs for these untested pesticides."
The NRDC petition was filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.
The lawsuit unites two frequent public health criticisms of EPA: The agency's conditional approval program and the federal approach to nanomaterials. Both EPA's inspector general and a National Academy of Sciences panel have recently said that more attention needs to be paid to assessing the health risks posed by nanomaterials, and more funding and research needs to be devoted to it (E&ENews PM, Jan. 25).
Nanomaterials appear in products ranging from infant pacifiers to paint, bicycles and cosmetics. Experts project that the global market for the substances will grow to $3 trillion by 2015.
Public health advocates charge that nanosilver is particularly insidious because its makers tout its health benefits without noting any risks.
"Because of its incredibly small size, nanosilver penetrates organs and tissues in the body that larger forms of silver cannot reach, like the brain, lung and testes," said Jennifer Sass, an NRDC senior scientist.
A few years ago, Samsung tried to manufacture a washing machine that released nanosilver into the water. Green groups, including NRDC, fiercely protested it, however, and the company eventually changed its plans.
Public health groups also charge that EPA's conditional approval process under FIFRA is flawed. In addition to nanosilver, they highlight the herbicide Imprelis, which was conditionally approved in 2010 but pulled off the market last year when several cases of the chemical killing trees surfaced (E&ENews PM, Aug. 11, 2011).
Fonte: EEnews-Greenwire
