Quest for Ethical and Socially Responsible Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Abstract

The nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) normative framework is a field that attracts intense debate. Current scientific knowledge, wide interdisciplinarity, technological developments, new applications, and emerging markets outline a complex and constantly evolving environment, within which ethical and socially responsible N&N must be developed. Other equally important perspectives include information and communication with the public, scientists’ sense of ethical obligation, health and environmental concerns, and risk assessment. In this context, specific ethical considerations are being raised, such as the difficulty to clarify and control the effects of N&N applications, the swift technological advancement that renders existing guidelines obsolete in an unprecedented pace, and the danger to increase inequalities between rich and poor countries (widening the so-called nano-divide). This chapter gives an overview of (a) risk assessment in N&N, as an important aspect for a deontology of N&N and (b) the N&N normative ethics framework on a European level and beyond. Risk assessment will be presented with regard to the field of N&N applications, i.e., environmental and human, while normative frameworks in N&N research will be focused on Europe and the USA.