December 21, 2011
Consumer Safety Groups File First Lawsuit on Risks of Nanotechnology

San Francisco, CA – Concerned by the growing body of scientific reports cautioning against the unregulated use of nanotechnology in consumer products, a coalition of nonprofit consumer safety and environmental groups sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today. The case is the first lawsuit over the health and
environmental risks of nanotechnology and nanomaterials.

• Read the full press release (pdf).
• Read the complaint (pdf).

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The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) is a non-profit, bi-partisan organization committed to providing the public with full assessments and analyses of technological impacts on society. Recent history is filled with profound technological changes and scientific discoveries–in such fields as telecommunications, nuclear power and weaponry, computers, pesticides, car and air travel, modern medicine, genetic engineering–that have permanently altered our communities, countries and ecosystems. These innovations demonstrate that technology is among the most powerful, and often destructive, agents of social change in modern times. ICTA was formed to assist the general public and policymakers better understand how technology affects society.

ICTA is devoted to exploring the economic, ethical, social, environmental and political impacts that can result from the applications of technology or technological systems. Using this holistic form of analysis, ICTA provides the public with independent, timely, and comprehensive information about the potential impacts of technology. Equally as important, ICTA is the country’s primary legal organization fighting megatechnologies and technocracies. Using legal petitions, comments, and litigation ICTA is at the forefront of the battles to limit genetic engineering, end the patenting of life, address greenhouse gas emissions, protect animals from abuse in research and agriculture, and halt deforestation.