Nanotechnology and risk: different perceptions about risks in carbon nanotubes

Abstract

This paper points out how government agencies and private sector discuss the regulation of nanotechnology, showing that different regulation proposals are related to different perceptions of risk analysis. The paper analyzes documents that discuss regulations of the carbon nanotube produced by government agencies (EPA, in the United States, Royal Society, in the United Kingdom and the Ministry of Science and Technology, in Brazil), and chemical industries DuPont and Bayer. It was pointed out that facing the challenges posed by nanotechnology, scientists, industry and politicians present very different responses to face such challenges. It was observed that these different responses occur in parallel, there is no ‘development’, but a complex situation is drawn. It was found that there are significant differences in how risks are perceived and faced by such agencies and industries, and that these perceptions reflect, in a broader sense, the way such entities understand science.