The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) welcomes the publication of the Defra-led public dialogue project report “Understanding public perceptions of specific applications of nanotechnologies”. We believe this to be an important government investment, as it forms a unique part of the evidence-base helping to safely design and grow UK nanotechnologies thereby bringing benefits to the society we live in. As part of the project’s Advisory Board, CIA is pleased to see the culmination of this project in the release of the report since the dialogue’s findings present useful learnings for all stakeholders.

Four over-arching conclusions have been made by the authors:

• “Trust was an important factor in discussion of regulation and four main factors informed the extent to which participants trusted a particular group or product: independence, transparency, accountability and reputation. Independence was characterised largely as lack of financial interest; (good) reputation seemed to result from using a product over time and perceiving it as good value and effective; transparency was a function of openness about potential harms as well as benefits and clarity and tone of communications. Accountability needed to rest in a single place, so that the public could hold that actor to account in the event of problems.”
• “Participants placed great weight on the problem being solved by the applications. They found it less easy to see the benefits of nanotechnologies in sunscreen than they did the benefits of nanotechnologies in fuel additives, primarily because the problem being addressed by fuel additives with nanotechnology is seen as so pressing.”
• “By looking across the four applications we have seen how participants weighthe risk of harm against potential benefits differently in each case and how underpinning themes such as naturalness, choice and control over exposure and economic benefits to the consumer have more or less relevance, depending on the nature of the product, the context in which it is used and the problem that it is seeking to address.”
• “Communication about nanotechnologies needs to be honest, open and transparent.”

In terms of how risk is perceived, the report makes a number of interesting statements:

“Managing risk on a day-to-day basis was, for many participants, a matter of using knowledge gained from their own experience, that of their families and friends and relying on trusted intermediaries, including brands and retail outlets. With products using nanomaterials, this knowledge is absent. This means that individuals felt unable to assess the safety of a product or manage risk and their expectation is that the risk must therefore be managed effectively by those who are perceived to have that knowledge: in this case government and industry.”

Roger Pullin of CIA said “Public dialogue is essential for our industry and this is the latest in a series of issues on which we regularly engage with stakeholders. It is important we continue to listen”

Ends

Notes:

The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) is the representative trade body for chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing businesses across the UK. These industries are the UK’s largest manufacturing export sectors with over £50 billion generated in 2014 – a 20 % share of total UK manufacturing exports with chemicals alone accounting for almost £29 billion. Chemicals and pharmaceuticals are also a key contributor to UK GDP growth, being one of the few manufacturing sectors that produced a trade surplus (£1.7 billion in 2014).

The dialogue held in February and March 2015 comprised three workshops involving around 40 members of the public (identified through a selection process to ensure a diversity of backgrounds and views), with the same people attending each workshop. Over the course of the three workshops a range of topics were explored with the public, these being: technology and society, understanding nanotechnology focussing on four specific applications, regulation and management, and consumer choice. The four nanotechnology applications, selected for their diversity, were paints and coatings, fuel additives, contaminated land remediation and sunscreens. For each application, the risks and benefits were considered in relation to their environmental impact, health and safety and uncertainty of long-term effects.

The Public Dialogue Report is available for download at: http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=19488&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=CB0486&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description .

CIA’s position on nanomaterials can be found at: http://www.cia.org.uk/Portals/0/Position%20statements/Nano%20policy%20sheet-10-2015_1.pdf

The objectives of the public dialogue on nanotechnologies were:

• To enable exploration of public attitudes in order to develop appropriate regulatory and governance mechanisms;
• To understand public aspirations for nanotechnology;
• To explore public views on communication about nanotechnology;
• To ensure insightful discussion can take place between the public and Government, industry and academia. 

For further information please call Simon Marsh 07951 389197