. "Summary." Review of Federal Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.
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Review of the Federal Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research
The gap between the knowledge at hand and the knowledgeneeded.
Research priorities for understanding life-cycle risks to humans and the environment.
The estimated resources that would be needed to address thegap over a specified time frame.
As part of a broader strategic plan, NNI should continue to foster thesuccessful interagency coordination effort that led to its 2008 document with the aim of ensuring that the federal plan is an integral partof the broader national strategic plan for investments in nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety research. In doing so, itwill need a more robust gap analysis. The federal plan should identifymilestones and mechanisms to ascertain progress and identify investment strategies for each agency. Such a federal plan could feed into anational strategic plan but would not itself be a broad, multistake-holder national strategic plan. Development of a national strategicplan should begin immediately and not await further refinement ofthe current federal strategy.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
A robust national strategic plan for addressing nanotechnology-related EHS risks will need to focus on promoting research that can assist all stakeholders, including federal agencies, in planning, controlling, and optimizing the use of engineered nanomaterials while minimizing EHS effects of concern to society. Such a plan will ensure the timely development of engineered nanoscale materials that will bring about great improvements in the nation’s health, its environmental quality, its economy, and its security.
