FDA aims at nanotech safety

FDA's Nanotechnology Task Force on July 25 released a report recommending that the agency address nanotechnology risks. Engineered nanoscale particles increasingly are being used in medical devices, drugs, and cosmetics and are being developed for use in food, animal feed, and food packaging. Most of the product types FDA regulates could eventually contain nanoscale particles, the report says. Nanotechnology presents special challenges, it notes, because properties relevant to product safety may change as particle size decreases and because FDA does not yet have all the tools it needs to assess the effects of nanoparticles on the human body. The report recommends that FDA develop nanotech "guidances" that spell out what data manufacturers should give FDA about their products and when the use of a nanoscale ingredient changes the regulatory status of the material. FDA officials say the first guidances will be completed in a few months.