U.S. FDA FORMS NANOTECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE

The U.S. FDA has announced the formation of an internal Nanotechnology Task Force. The task force is charged with determining regulatory approaches that encourage the continued development of innovative, safe and effective FDA-regulated products that use nanotechnology materials.

The task force will identify and recommend ways to address any knowledge or policy gaps that exist so as to better enable the agency to evaluate possible adverse health effects from products that use nanotechnology materials. The agency will continue to address product-specific nanotechnology-related issues on an ongoing basis.

The National Nanotechnology Initiative, a government research and development coordinating program, refers to nanotechnology as "the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications." Materials made in the nanoscale size range can often have chemical or physical properties that are different from those of their larger counterparts. Such differences include altered magnetic properties, altered electrical or optical activity, increased structural integrity and increased chemical and biological activity.