Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1/11/12

Concerned by the growing body of scientific reports cautioning against the unregulated use of nanotechnology in consumer products, a coalition of nonprofit consumer safety and environmental groups is suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the first lawsuit over the health and environmental risks of nanotechnology and nanomaterials.

Often defined as the intentional manipulation of matter up to 100 nanometers (1 nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter, or 80,000 times smaller than a human hair) in size, nanotechnology in food packaging is already a reality. It's used in food storage bins, such as those used for cereal or snacks, with silver nanoparticles embedded in the plastic. The silver nanoparticles kill bacteria from any food previously stored in the bins, minimizing harmful bacteria. Although commercial applications for fresh meat have not yet been developed, all that may change within the next decade.

But just as the size and chemical characteristics of manufactured nanomaterials give them unique properties, those same properties —  tiny size, vastly increased surface area to volume ratio and high reactivity — can also create unique and unpredictable health and environmental risks.

The lawsuit demands FDA respond to a petition the public interest organizations — Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch, the Center for Environmental Health, the ETC Group and the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy — filed with the agency in 2006.

“Nano means more than tiny; it means materials that have the capacity to be fundamentally different. Yet more and more novel nanomaterials are being sold infused into new consumer products every day, while FDA sits idly by,” ICTA attorney George Kimbrell said in a statement. “The agency’s unlawful delay unnecessarily places consumers and the environment at risk.”

The 80-page petition documents the scientific evidence of nanomaterial risks stemming from their unpredictable toxicity and seemingly unlimited mobility. The 2006 petition requested FDA to take several regulatory actions, including requiring nano-specific product labeling and health and safety testing, and undertaking an analysis of the environmental and health impacts of nanomaterials in products approved by the agency.

Since 2006, numerous studies and reports, including agency publications by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, acknowledge significant data gaps concerning nanomaterials’ potential effects on human health and the environment. 

"Nobody knows what the real impact is," explains Navam Hettiarachchy, professor in the Department of Food Science & Institute of Food Science and Engineering at the University of Arkansas.

She has been developing edible nanoscale edible coatings that are invisible to the human eye and that may be used on meats as a barrier to moisture and gas exchange in addition to increasing shelf life. "When it is consumed and absorbed into the system, we don't know how the body reacts. There are few references showing that it's non-toxic, and more research needs to be done."

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