| Summary: |
After the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering's 2004 report "Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties" (see report ID 446), the UK Government published its response (see report ID 188) which addressed concerns and laid out planned government activities. This report is the Council for Science and Technology (CST)'s two year review of progress on actions outlined in the Government's response. The government has made progress on its commitments for the development of standards, for work on workplace exposure, and for the Defra Voluntary Reporting Scheme. However, the government has not made sufficient progress on its research commitments. The report concludes that although the government committed to an immediate research program and expected "substantial progress" in two years, only 10 million pounds were spent on nanotechnology, 3 million of which went to toxicology and health/environmental impacts. CST suggests that the government invest at least 5 to 6 million pounds per year to research the toxicology and health/environmental impacts of nanotechnology. Other recommendations are to improve the visibility of the Nanotechnology Research Coordination Group and to urgently formulate short-term toxicity protocols. |