Nanotech-enabled consumer products continue to rise

"The use of nanotechnology in consumer products continues to grow on a rapid and consistent basis," says PEN Director David Rejeski. "When we launched the inventory in March 2006 it contained 212 products. If the current trend continues, the number of products could reach 3,400 by 2020."

Health and fitness items continue to dominate the PEN inventory, representing 56 percent of products listed. More products are based on nanoscale silver -- used for its antimicrobial properties -- than any other nanomaterial; 313 products (24 percent of the inventory) use silver nanoparticles. The updated inventory represents products from over 30 countries, including the US, China, Canada, Germany, and India. This update also identifies products that were previously available, but for which there is no current information.

"The initial goal of the inventory was to help educate consumers and encourage regulatory bodies to build internal capacity to track products. Unfortunately, as more and more nano-enabled products enter the marketplace, and despite ten years and billions of dollars of investment through the National Nanotechnology Initiative, oversight challenges for agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission still exist," according to Dr. Todd Kuiken, a research associate with PEN.

With an ever increasing number of products becoming available from countries outside the U.S., environmental health and safety research strategies will need to be better coordinated. The release of the updated inventory preceeds a joint US-EU workshop, sponsored by the U.S. National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, which is designed to bridge environmental health and safety research strategies. Bridging NanoEHS Research Effort:/A joint US-EU Workshop will be held March 10-11 in Washington, D.C.

The PEN consumer products inventory includes products that have been identified by their manufacturer or a credible source as being nanotechnology-based. This update identifies products that were previously sold, but which may no longer be available. It remains the most comprehensive and widely used source of information on nanotechnology-enabled consumer products in the world.

The inventory is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org/inventories/consumer/ or download the findnano iphone application at http://www.nanotechproject.org/iphone/.