Despite criticism by ngos and consumer groups, the us food regulator has announced that cosmetics, drugs and other products that use nanotechnology will now not require special regulations or labelling.
A task force of the us Food and Drug Administration (fda) concluded that although nano-sized materials may have completely different properties than their bigger counterparts, there is no scientific evidence that they pose any major safety risks.
But consumer groups fear that these tiny particles are unpredictable and potentially toxic, and therefore have unforeseen health impacts. The International Center for Technology Assessment, a policy group, said it was suing fda for calling for more oversight over the technology. "The consumer is being made the guinea pig," said George Kimbrell, staff attorney at the centre.
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