Thursday, July 29, 2004
Tweet[IWS] TUC: NANOTECHNOLOGY: Dangers [to WORKERS] come in small particles [29 July 2004]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 Director, IWS News Bureau
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From the Trade Union Confederation (TUC) in the U.K.
NANOTECHNOLOGY: Dangers come in small particles [in Hazards Magazine]
http://www.hazards.org/nanotech/safety.htm
- A TUC fact sheet on nanotechnology is available at:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-8350-f0.cfm
Press Release [29 July 2004]
Nanotechnology could be the new asbestos
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-8351-f0.cfm
The latest issue of the TUC backed Hazards magazine has supported todays call from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineers for regulation of the booming nanotechnology industry, particularly in the area of workers safety.
Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said:
'This isn't an apocalyptic warning about 'nano-goo' or renegade 'nano-robots' but a genuine concern for the safety of staff breathing in and absorbing tiny, toxic particles. Asbestos is still killing people 100 years on. We must learn from this tragedy and ensure that a regulated nanotechnology industry can make products that are useful and innovative but safe to workers and consumers.'
Nanotechnology: what they dont know could hurt you, featured in Hazards magazine (out today - <http://www.hazards.org/nanotech>) likens the unregulated growth of nanotechnology, the production or use of very small particles, to a 21st Century gold rush. Hundreds of nanotechnology based products (using particles one eighty thousandth the width of a human hair) are already on the market, from computer screens to self-cleaning windows, and over £2 billion is being spent globally on research and development. But health and safety law, in the UK and other countries, does not protect workers in the nanotechnology industry from health risks they may face, as it does for other highly hazardous materials.
The TUC believes that the production and use of nanoparticles should be carried out in a contained process so that employees are not exposed to the potential health risks.
AND MORE....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky *
Director, IWS News Bureau *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor *
New York, NY 10016 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2703 *
Fax: (607) 255-9641 *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu *
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_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10016
________________________________________________________________________
From the Trade Union Confederation (TUC) in the U.K.
NANOTECHNOLOGY: Dangers come in small particles [in Hazards Magazine]
http://www.hazards.org/nanotech/safety.htm
- A TUC fact sheet on nanotechnology is available at:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-8350-f0.cfm
Press Release [29 July 2004]
Nanotechnology could be the new asbestos
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-8351-f0.cfm
The latest issue of the TUC backed Hazards magazine has supported todays call from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineers for regulation of the booming nanotechnology industry, particularly in the area of workers safety.
Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said:
'This isn't an apocalyptic warning about 'nano-goo' or renegade 'nano-robots' but a genuine concern for the safety of staff breathing in and absorbing tiny, toxic particles. Asbestos is still killing people 100 years on. We must learn from this tragedy and ensure that a regulated nanotechnology industry can make products that are useful and innovative but safe to workers and consumers.'
Nanotechnology: what they dont know could hurt you, featured in Hazards magazine (out today - <http://www.hazards.org/nanotech>) likens the unregulated growth of nanotechnology, the production or use of very small particles, to a 21st Century gold rush. Hundreds of nanotechnology based products (using particles one eighty thousandth the width of a human hair) are already on the market, from computer screens to self-cleaning windows, and over £2 billion is being spent globally on research and development. But health and safety law, in the UK and other countries, does not protect workers in the nanotechnology industry from health risks they may face, as it does for other highly hazardous materials.
The TUC believes that the production and use of nanoparticles should be carried out in a contained process so that employees are not exposed to the potential health risks.
AND MORE....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
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# posted by SBasefsky : 2:06 PM
