US FDA and EPA to set nanoparticle regulations

The US Environmental Protection Agency has decided to regulate the use of nanoparticles based on silver in consumer goods. The precious metal is considered to have antibacterial properties. Although the ingestion by humans of large quantities of silver produces tissue-impregnation with silver sulphate and can lead to argyria, a blue or grey-blue skin coloration, the oral consumption of silver is not generally considered toxic.

The development of silver nanoparticles which claim to have antibacterial properties is causing both the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider their respective regulatory frameworks. Environmental campaigning organizations claim that discharges of the particles, for example from laundry machines, could harm human-beneficial bacteria and wildlife.

According to www.mineweb.com, a mining industry on-line magazine, "scientists believe that the very nature of nanotechnology - its ability to alter the fundamental properties of substances - is likely to challenge the existing regulatory structure and generate confusion concerning the role of the regulation."