Canadian government taking steps to regulate use of nano-materials

Environment Canada (EC) will require companies to report their use of engineered nano-materials in a step toward developing a regulatory framework around the use of nano-technology.
EC will publish a notice in Feb. 2009 that will target companies or institutions that manufactured or imported a total quantity greater than one kilogram of nano-material during the 2008 calendar year, an EC spokesperson says.
It will be a one-time request that requires those companies or institutions to report information on:
•    the quantity of the substance that is manufactured or imported;
•    details about the use of the substance;
•    any data on physical and chemical properties;
•    toxicity data that are currently available to respondents; and
•    information on the procedures, policies and technological solutions that have been put in place to prevent or minimize releases of the substance to the environment and exposure to individuals.
Companies or institutions subject to the notice would have four months to provide information.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnology based in Washington, D.C., heralds this as the first governmental attempt at regulating the use of nano-materials.
Members of the insurance industry have expressed growing concern over the use of nano-technology. In particular, they note the lack of knowledge abound potential health implications, leading to exposures akin to those associated with asbestos.
Johanny Cruz, a research analyst at Advisen, listed potential lines of business that could possibly be affected by the use of nano-technology in the August 2008 issue of Canadian Underwriter. These lines include:
•    general and product liability (exposure to loss from products containing or releasing nano-materials);
•    product recall (the cost of recalling a nano-technology product with safety defects);
•    environmental liability (damage caused to the environment from nano-materials released intentionally or accidentally); and
•    property (the fine particle size of nano-materials could cause ignitable dust to form).