A Guangzhou expert recently warned that nanotechnology has a
non-environmental-friendly aspect that requires attention of
researchers and others working in developing the technology that is
expected to have a great impact on economic and social development
as well as on national defense in the 21st Century.
Gong Kecheng, director of the Institute of High Polymer Structure
and Modification of the South China
University of Technology, said that abuse of the technology
could lead to over-consumption of the earth’s limited resources and
even lead to ecological disaster.
“The scientific circle has never breathed a word about the possible
negative impact of the nanotechnology. This is dangerous.
Researchers should weigh basic ethical considerations to guard
against any risk of possible ecological disaster,” said Gong.
Examples of human suffering caused by new technology are available
in history. For example, Albert Einstein’s discovery of the theory
of relativity opened the door for humans to use nuclear energy, but
it also led to the birth of the atomic bomb.
Nanotechnology has negative potentials that could cause ecological
disaster if they go unregulated, Dong said. For example, the
residue of raw materials used in the manufacture of integrated
circuit chips includes highly toxic substances, such as gallium
arsenide. Japan’s manufacture of some 610 million mobile phones
over the past decade means also that about one ton of arsenide
substances were released in their manufacture.
According to Gong, whose specialty is polymers and nanotechnology
composite materials, too many researchers are using out-dated
methods that produce active and toxic by-products that can cause
incalculable damage when released into the environment.
Some people are also trying to develop nanotechnology asbestos
products, said the professor, placing workers in danger of
developing lung diseases through the inhalation of micron
asbestos.
With nanotechnology research still in its infancy and with
industrial applications just beginning, it is not too late to
exercise controls, Professor Gong said
The Institute of High Polymer Structure and Modification led by
Professor Gong has long been engaged in the environmental-friendly
development of nanotechnology to produce a composite board made of
sand, stone, soil and recyclable industrial wastes. Compared with
traditional plywood, the institute’s method saves wood and
eliminates the use of formaldehyde which is toxic.
(www.h5a3.com by Chen Qiuping 08/24/2001)