According to the marketer of a new line of nano paint, this revolutionary product is a “non-toxic coating system which is able not only to stop the appearance of algae and fungal growth but also destroy antibiotic resistant bacteria found in hospitals and medical practices.”

Impressive performance

Whether for shipping or hospitals the paint seems impressive. The company claims the antibacterial paint could help solve the problem of hospital super bugs. Risks The product data sheet for this nano paint raises the spectre of a real pollution concern. It carries the warning, “do not allow to enter drains or watercourses” while other literature advises: “Clean tools and hands immediately after use with soap and water.”

A reader of NewScientist.com where this item appears wonders where that nano-contaminated soap and water will end up if not in drains and watercourses. And what’s the consequence of nano pollutants in the environment? Risk research needed. Read about the key risk research questions that we need answers to in this article, “What’s driving the nanotech revolution and what this means for safety.”

Nanotech development is an industrial revolution based on the control of matter on a scale smaller than one micrometre and the fabrication of incredibly tiny devices.

With nanotech, familiar products can be radically improved. Products that get reengineered using nanotech perform in unimagined ways: wounds heal faster with bandages that stay clean and don’t need to be changed; ultra light and ultra strong materials change the performance of every thing from golf clubs, golf balls, eye glasses and contact lenses.

The marketing mantra “new and improved” will no longer be hype. Nanotech’s growth will be phenomenal. For business, it’s going to be a race for survival. If your products are brand leaders today, there’s a real threat they may not be tomorrow. If you believe that a smart competitor could use nanotech in an innovative way to create a “category killer”-a new product that is so revolutionary and good that it wipes out the competition-you have no choice but to enter the nanotech race. A delayed or cautious start could be deadly for your business.

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There’s something interesting about designing the symbol for something you can’t see. An estimated 30,000 people who gathered at the World Social Forum in Nairobi this week also seemed to think so. Participants at this conference had a chance to vote for their favorite Nano-Hazard Symbol – a design that warns of the presence of engineered nanomaterials (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter). Designers from 26 different countries submitted 482 unique enteries. Here are the three winners.

These designs will be submitted to international standard-setting bodies and could be used as a label on product-packaging or workroom walls.

Because of their extremely small size and large surface area, nano-scale particles may be more reactive and more toxic than larger particles of the same substance. Even though hundreds of products containing engineered nanoparticles are on the market, the toxicology of nanoparticles is largely unknown.

This appears to be a first. Berkeley City Council is about to amend its hazardous materials law to compel researchers and manufacturers to report what nanotechnology materials they are working with and how they are handling the tiny particles.

The issue of establishing regulations to monitor the activities of startups and small business in Berkeley had a preliminary introduction at Council on December 5th. The Berkeley Council gave their unanimous support at this meeting. You can read more about this in a report from PhysOrg.com.