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Regulatory Mechanisms for
O ne of the major barrier faced across the country is lack of access to safe water, over 97 million people lack access to safe drinking water in India. Moreover, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. The availability and access to safe drinking water is becoming an increasingly important issue, with many water sources becoming contaminated with both biological and chemical pollutants like arsenic, fluoride, organo-chlorides, etc. In addition, new problems like organic contamination and increasing salinity are also affecting water sources extensively. Hence, household water treatment systems are gaining increasing prominence as a means of safe drinking water at the point-of-use.Risk Management for Nanotechnology Across the world there are a number of ongoing researches on technologies for water purification and a large part of it is based in or contextualized for developing countries. Nanotechnology is one of these with over 800 commercial products today consist of nanoscale materials and processes. While nanotechnology can produce all kinds of new and improved products, much of it remains at the research stage 1 and the debate surrounding the risks and benefits of the technology continues. Researchers have identified a range of potential health, safety and environmental hazards but there remains uncertainty especially regarding the safety of exposure to hazardous material like nanomaterials. Hence, its entire life cycle should be evaluated to properly assess the safety, health and environmental hazards of these materials. An Integrated Risk Assessment and Management Framework need to be adopted for proper assessment and managing associated risks. During manufacturing environmental impact can be mitigated by controlling emissions of these materials into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Good practices at laboratory level need to be documented and enforced. The same should be adapted at production level for industry as well. Worker safety norm is very important when dealing with hazardous material and this should be defined for nanotechnology. Material safety data sheets used for other hazardous materials should be adapted for nanotechnology as well. Nanomaterials are perceived to have most impact in product disposal as it is a decentralized process and risk of contaminating the environment is very high. Increased producer responsibility to include product buy back for centralized recovery of hazardous materials should be looked at by water purifier sector as done by lead acid battery industry, both at a small and large scale. Policy and Regulation Measures Nanotechnologies have penetrated the market including water sector, however, there remains ambiguity on standards and regulations related to quality and risk management. Quality, safety, health and environment concerns need to be scrutinized far more closely. While leaching risks during operation are taken care of, disposal risks during manufacture of the media like nanomaterial at laboratory and factory level as well as disposal of the device are not well documented. Similarly there are inadequate management systems to deal with the disposal of hazardous waste like arsenic, organochlorides, etc. generated as part of the process of purification of water. Individual countries and international organizations are discussing the safety of hazardous material especially nanoparticles, and efforts are being explored to establish standards for nanotechnologies at different levels. In recent years, awareness of nanotechnology has dramatically seen a rise among lawmakers, regulators, and environmental activists. Gaining international consensus on standards for nanotechnologies is important as this will help to ensure open, safe and responsible development of nanotechnologies. Supporting safety testing legislation and regulation will support worker, public and environmental safety. Furthermore it will help to increase communication about the benefits, opportunities and potential problems associated with nanotechnologies 2. |
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What is Nanotechnology? Nanotechnology is the study of manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Nanoparticles are defined as particles with one or more dimensions in the 1 to 100 nm size range e.g. carbon nanotubes have a diameter smaller than 100 nm and maximum length of a few micrometres. Nanotechnology is used to customize the essential structures of materials at the nanoscale to achieve specific properties. With the use of nanotechnology, materials can be made to be stronger, lighter, more durable, more reactive, more sieve-like, or better electrical conductors etc. Since nanotechnology uses very small particles, it is believed that the products will use less energy, less resources, as well as generate less waste. Many sectors will benefit from the use of nanotechnology and can be used to overcome many problems such as water shortage, resource deficiency etc. Nanotechnologies can provide solutions to water problems, both in terms of detection and removal of contaminants. Nanomaterial based technologies, absorbents and catalysts are being used to create innovative products for water treatment. Nano metals and metal oxides are the most commonly used nanomaterials. There is also a lot of research on carbon nanotubes. Nano silver is present in most of the products that have reached the market. Nanomaterials can also be used to enhance membrane separation processes, leading to improved selectivity and lower costs. Nano porous fabric membranes are another way of using the technology to purify water. |
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Disclosure of Information While, water purifier market is
dominated by industry giants like Eureka
Despite government efforts, the pace of the industry is very fast, increasing the probability of risk exposure. There is a need to adopt precautionary principle while dealing with this uncertainty. Labelling is a method of information sharing which is done on both a mandatory or voluntary basis. Certification marks represent agreements between manufacturers and nationally-accredited testing and certification organizations that the product has met certain standards. In addition to the formal mechanisms of labelling and certification, as more and more new nano-products enter the market, fields such as advertising and marketing will also begin to play a particularly important role in disclosing information regarding the product and technology to customers. Advertising and promotional materials will be significant educational tools in this regard. Policy Imperative In recent years, nanotechnology has generated considerable interest in India with government investing considerable financial resources supporting and encouraging research in it3. There are a few aspects that need to be looked at closely from policy perspective. • Define the parameters of "appropriate technologies" with respect to localized water quality and cultural conditions. • Define risk assessment and management framework – safety, health and environment - for manufacturing and disposal especially for nanomaterials and other hazardous wastes generated. • Develop use and management regulations for nanomaterials and its use and applications across sectors. • Formulation of disclosure norms for private sector and ensuring it through consumer affairs ministry. • Develop labelling schemes / graphic symbols to indicate potentially hazardous nanomaterial as part of the disclosure process e.g. NanoQ or NanoMark labels. • Develop a clear mechanism for the disposal of hazardous wastes especially nanomaterials like buy back schemes. q Kriti Nagrath Endnotes
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Forbes,
Kent, Phillips, TATA Chemicals, Hindustan Unilever etc., informal market
especially for candle filters is a thriving business. However, there is
no regulation on technologies and products entering the market.
Currently there are no norms on disclosure of information for this
sector. It is often seen that information on shelf life, service life,
precautions, safety issues, replacement of filters, end of life
indication, disposal etc. is not explicitly mentioned. The quality of
the output water is also not assessed continuously to estimate the
efficiency of the filter. Lack of standards on these parameters can lead
to spurious products flooding the market.