Emerging Nanotechnologies at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USA.
J Law Med Ethics. 2009 Winter;37(4):651-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-720X.2009.00438.x.
Research and business investment in emerging nanotechnologies is leading to a diverse range of new substances and products. As workers are faced with handling new materials, often with novel properties, the robustness of current workplace health and safety regulatory frameworks is being brought into question. Here, 12 characteristics of the U.S. occupational safety regulatory framework identified by Choi and Ramachandran are considered in the context of emerging nanotechnologies. The assessment suggests that, as the number of new materials entering the workplace continues to increase, OSHA will need to develop flexible approaches to identifying and reducing potential risks. Relying on conventional approaches in the face of unconventional challenges will increase the probability of otherwise avoidable heath impacts. If the potential for engineered nanomaterials to cause harm is to be understood and managed, the agency will need to look at new approaches to generating, sharing, and using information.
对新兴纳米技术的研究和商业投资正在导致各种新物质和产品的出现。由于工人面临着处理新材料的问题，而这些新材料通常具有新颖的特性，因此当前的工作场所健康和安全监管框架的稳健性受到了质疑。在这里，Choi 和 Ramachandran 确定了美国职业安全监管框架的 12 个特征，并将其应用于新兴纳米技术。评估表明，随着进入工作场所的新材料数量继续增加，OSHA 将需要制定灵活的方法来识别和降低潜在风险。在面对非常规挑战时，依赖传统方法将增加本可避免的健康影响的可能性。如果要理解和管理工程纳米材料造成的危害的可能性，该机构将需要考虑生成、共享和使用信息的新方法。
