Consumers Nano-Cautious

doi:10.1126/science.309.5741.1661d

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Only 11% of Americans believe that voluntary standards among companies selling nano-based products are adequate to protect human and environmental safety, a new U.S. survey has found. The most in-depth study to date, the survey polled focus groups involving 177 consumers nationwide and was released yesterday by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. It found that although individuals don't support a ban on nanotechnology in consumer products, most prefer to know what nanomaterials are in their medicines or ice cream and would like increased premarket testing to ensure that products are safe.