Regulating Nanotechnology in Antarctica
Abstract—Nanotechnology seems likely to contribute the latest in a long line of “exotic ” introductions into the Antarctic, through both natural global dispersal mechanisms and human agency. Whilst the significance, and particularly the specific risks, of nanomaterials in Antarctica are presently un...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.549.360 http://www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz/documents/Hemmings %26 Jabour- Regulating Nanotechnology in Antarctica - ICONN 2008.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract—Nanotechnology seems likely to contribute the latest in a long line of “exotic ” introductions into the Antarctic, through both natural global dispersal mechanisms and human agency. Whilst the significance, and particularly the specific risks, of nanomaterials in Antarctica are presently unclear, if generic concerns about environmental and health risks are well-founded, we may have an issue to resolve. The Antarctic legal regime reveals a formal commitment to preventing, containing and regulating particular problematic materials and organisms in Antarctica. If the system remains consistent, this may be some guide to its likely approach to nanomaterials in Antarctica. Given its international nature and the centrality of science to the Antarctic governance regime, Antarctica may also offer a useful test-bed for wider international management of nanomaterials. (Abstract) Keywords-Antarctica; Antarctic Treaty System; environment; nanotechnology; nanomaterials; regulation (key words) |
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