The Nanotech BC Blog: The FDA Speaks

The USA Food and Drug Administration has come to the conclusion that they have sufficient capability to test and regulate products containing nanoparticles. Products will not need special labeling to indicate the presence of nanoparticles -- a decision that will no doubt put a number of companies at ease. More details here and here.

Is this a good thing? It's hard to say, because the decision seems to be being made based on a lack of information -- the FDA simply doesn't know enough about nanoparticles to say they are a danger. This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean some of them aren't.

It really comes down to deciding just how cautious we want to be about nanotechnology. This is a tough call to make, and I sincerely hope that the FDA knows enough about the many different properties of the many different kinds of nanoparticles to make it.