AsianScientist (Dec. 11, 2014) – A survey published in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research shows that while the Singaporean population is more familiar with nanotechnology than their Western counterparts in the US and Europe, they are also more wary of the risks involved.
Asia is expected to dominate the use and release of nanomaterials into the environment, largely due to the size of the population. Furthermore, the region in general—and Singapore in particular—has invested heavily in nanotechnology research, rapidly translating their findings into industrial and consumer products. However, there has been a lack of studies documenting public attitudes and acceptance of new technologies such as nanotechnology.
To address this gap of information, a team of researchers led by first author Dr. Saji George from the Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology conducted a survey of 1,080 Singaporeans above the age of 15. Their results revealed that approximately 80 percent had some understanding of nanotechnology.
However, knowing more about nanotechnology did not increase their confidence in its safety. Although the majority of respondents were of the opinion that benefits of nanotechnology outweighed its risk to society, 27 percent of them believed otherwise. In contrast, a similar study conducted in the US showed that only six percent of respondents had a negative outlook on nanotechnology.
George and his team also found that concerns about the impact of nanotechnology in consumer products differed according to the type of product, with people being most concerned about applications in food, followed by medicine and baby products. Respondents were least concerned about nanotechnology applications in electronics.
“It is of interest to note that the pace of growth in nanotechnology applications is highest in the food and medicine sectors,” George said.
“Our study suggests that the rapid growth of nanotechnology applications in food is taking place when the public sentiment is potentially negative because of the fear of coming into contact with potentially dangerous nanomaterials. Thus, the influx of nanotechnology applications in food in the absence of consumer confidence may lead to a societal distrust in nanotech industries and the responsible regulatory bodies.”
Upon closer examination of the data, it was found that one of the strong factors associated with higher level of concern was prior exposure of the respondents to news on the adverse effects of nanotechnology. As such, this study suggests that exposure to risk-related information results in greater concerns about nanotechnology applications rather than awareness leading to acceptance.
“Nanotechnology may be a double-edged sword in some applications. A large proportion of the population is already aware of it, and interestingly, 60 percent have actually come across negative information on nanotechnology,” said Dr. Joel Lee, Director of NYP’s School of Chemical & Life Sciences and a co-author in this study.
“Through studies such as ours, companies will learn what consumers are concerned about in specific types of nanotechnology-based consumer products and how these concerns can be addressed as early as during product design through manufacturing stages.”
The article can be found at: George et al. (2014) Awareness on Adverse Effects of Nanotechnology Increases Negative Perception Among Public: Survey Study from Singapore.
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Source: Nanyang Polytechnic; Photo: Gisela Giardino/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
