Basic concerns of Nanotechnology

I would like the note the important communication issues between scientists and the publics are being addressed. I was more curious to know if anyone had was taking these papers concerning communication issues seriously and what progress had been made. It seems those concerned with nanotechnology have, in fact, been acting very similarly to the how authors such as Kuzma suggest we do. A large proponent of nanotechnology and futurist Ray Kurzweil has encouraged talks with the government and the public.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/congressional-hearing-addresses-public-concerns-about-nanotech

Kurzweil and many others have addressed the issues people most fear with nanotechnology which is a Grey Goo scenario (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo) or  more bluntly, world annihilation by nanobots. Yes, there are concerns with nanotechnology such as risks to the environment and whether they are carcinogenic but people don’t fear these as much. A fair portion of the population chooses to smoke cigarettes or neglect their environmental impact knowing full well the potential consequences of their actions but the mention of rogue nanobots suddenly gets people attention. And this is actually a warranted fear (see http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html). As a student going into nanotechnology I think it would be great to have a molecular level control of a system that can intelligently manage itself. Could such a system get out of control? Possibly. But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have thought of precautions.

Although these fears are potentially valid, they aren’t the most pressing today.  On this particular subject scientists might be better using the deficit model because the public is interested but misguided. We’re a fair amount of time away from a grey goo crisis. The more relevant issues are the one that address basic effects of the existence of nanotechnology as it is today.

This year I will be working with nanoparticles that act as molecular motors.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la803491g

The particles are a form of azobenzene and now that I’m slightly more conscientious about the risks of nanotechnology I became curious of the health risks I might encounter while working with it. As it turns out the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an page on azobenzene although it is not complete.

http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0351.htm

As it turns out azobenzene is a “Classification B2 - probable human carcinogen”. Read on and the explanation for why is something to the effect that upon encountering acidic conditions such as those in the stomach azobenzene will be converted to a “known human carcinogen benzidine.” What I take away from this is that I should not eat azobenzene. And since there is no data for data for the risk of inhalation I should probably avoid that too. Overall, probably something I should avoid rubbing my face in.