David M. Berube

A tale of opportunities, uncertainties, and risks

Nanoscience and nanotechnologies are expected to change industrial production and economics over the decades to come. This new field is also exciting since it sweeps away the traditional barriers between disciplines such as chemistry, physics, and biology. Nanotechnology requires different thinking in management, collaboration, value chain propositions, education, and calls for research grants. Apart from the benefits and challenges, nanotechnologies also produce uncertainties and risks. For some, the degree of potential hazard associated with nanoparticles is so disquieting that in January 2008 the UK Soil Association adopted a nano-free policy for products certified as organic.

Characteristics and classification of nanoparticles: expert Delphi survey.

Abstract Research needs assessment regarding environmental health and safety (EHS) of nanoparticles is problematic. Generating benchmark data to assess research and policy initiatives seems daunting. This studys findings present more granular and qualitative assessments of expert preferences and concerns. This three-round Delphi study elicits expert estimations of problematic nanoparticle characteristics and classifications from a sample of nanoscience experts in chemistry, EHS policy, engineering, environmental toxicology, and human toxicology (n = 18). The Delphi method is a forecasting tool designed for expert evaluation of events under high degrees of uncertainty. Results demonstrate high concordance indicating favorable consensus among the sample concerning characteristics and classifications of nanoparticles that are potentially or actually problematic to EHS. These findings establish a benchmark for future investigations of expert preferences and concerns.

Influences of individual-level characteristics on risk perceptions to various categories of environmental health and safety risks

Over the last five decades, social science researchers have examined how the public perceives the risks associated with a variety of environmental health and safety (EHS) hazards. The body of literature that has been emerged diverse both in the methodology employed to collect and analyze data and in the subject of study. The findings have confirmed that risk perceptions vary between groups of individuals as well as between categories of EHS risks. However, the extant literature on EHS risk perceptions has failed to provide empirical insights into how risk perceptions can be best explained according to the interplay of both (1) the category of EHS hazard appraised and (2) the prominent individual-level characteristics that best explain observed risk perception differences. This study addresses this deficiency in the literature by providing insights into the individual and cumulative roles that various individual-level variables play in characterizing risk perceptions to various categories of EHS risks including ‘agentic risks’ like street drug use and cigarette smoking, ‘emerging technological risks’ like nanoparticles and cloning, and ‘manufacturing risks’ like air and chemical pollution. Our data are drawn from the 2009 Citizens, Science, and Emerging Technologies national study of United States households that investigated public perceptions of EHS risks, traditional and emerging media use, and various individual characteristics like personal demographics, socioeconomic factors, and perceptual filters. The findings show that some categories of EHS risks like those associated with emerging technologies may be more easily predicted than other categories of risks and that individual-level characteristics vary in their explanative power between risk categories even among a single sample of respondents.

Comparative, collaborative, and integrative risk governance for emerging technologies

Various emerging technologies challenge existing governance processes to identify, assess, and manage risk. Though the existing risk-based paradigm has been essential for assessment of many chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear technologies, a complementary approach may be warranted for the early-stage assessment and management challenges of high uncertainty technologies ranging from nanotechnology to synthetic biology to artificial intelligence, among many others. This paper argues for a risk governance approach that integrates quantitative experimental information alongside qualitative expert insight to characterize and balance the risks, benefits, costs, and societal implications of emerging technologies. Various articles in scholarly literature have highlighted differing points of how to address technological uncertainty, and this article builds upon such knowledge to explain how an emerging technology risk governance process should be driven by a multi-stakeholder effort, incorporate various disparate sources of information, review various endpoints and outcomes, and comparatively assess emerging technology performance against existing conventional products in a given application area. At least in the early stages of development when quantitative data for risk assessment remain incomplete or limited, such an approach can be valuable for policymakers and decision makers to evaluate the impact that such technologies may have upon human and environmental health.

The public acceptance of nanomedicine: a personal perspective

Limited understanding of a subject leads to limited perceptions, including misinformed biases and associations. In regard to the field of nanotechnology, prior biotechnologies have harmed public perception of nanotechnology through association alone. While public bias is slow to convert toward truth, it is likely that the medical applications of nanotechnology will foster a renewed interest and trust in the field through the prolonged escape from death.

How social science should complement scientific discovery: lessons from nanoscience

This article examines the state of social science of science, particularly nanoscience. It reviews what has been done and offers a series of constructive criticisms. It examines some of the problems associated with experts and expertise and itemizes challenges we confront dealing with them. It presages some of the social science research work that we may consider to embrace in the future.

Chapter 38 – Nanoscience and Water: Public Engagement at and Below the Surface

Potable water is a threatened resource for the developing world. As nanoscience contributes to the development of nanotechnologies with the potential to provide safe and inexpensive drinking water to developing countries, it is imperative that the public accepts and maintains the technology. Converting the public in developing countries into advocates can increase the probability of overall acceptance of exotic treatment technologies. Anchoring public sentiment positively will improve the options when resolving problems that predictably arise as new water technologies are implemented. Public engagement demands an approach both appropriate to the public and to the technology. A municipally based system will demand a different engagement approach than a point-of-use system. As such, a relevant case-specific strategy of engagement must be developed to coincide with the introduction of new water treatment technologies.

VIA - Visualizing Individual Actions to Develop a Sustainable Community Culture through Cycling

Improving the sustainability of our society requires significant change in our collective behavior. But today, individuals in our society have no regular way of seeing that collective behavior, or how their own behavior compares to it. We are creating a research network that will study how new technologies such as mobiles and visualization can encourage individuals to change their behavior to improve sustainability. In Winston-Salem NC, network members will use new technologies to engage the community about its use of transportation--especially biking--and study how that communication affects sustainability awareness and behavior.

Nanoscience and Water: Public Engagement At and Below the Surface

Publisher Summary Potable water is a threatened resource for the developing world. As nanoscience contributes to the development of nanotechnologies with the potential to provide safe and inexpensive drinking water to developing countries, it is imperative that the public accepts and maintains the technology. Converting the public in developing countries into advocates can increase the probability of overall acceptance of exotic treatment technologies. Anchoring public sentiment positively will improve the options when resolving problems that predictably arise as new water technologies are implemented. Public engagement demands an approach both appropriate to the public as well as to the technology. A municipally based system will demand a different engagement approach than a point-of-use system. As such, a relevant case-specific strategy of engagement must be developed to coincide with the introduction of new water treatment technologies.