Wilson Center Announces Updated Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory

On October 28, 2013, the Wilson Center announced that the updated Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory contains 1,628 consumer products that have been introduced to the market since 2005, which is a 24 percent increase since the last update in 2010. The Wilson Center states that the re-launched inventory “seeks to address scientific uncertainty with contributions from those involved with nanomaterials production, use, and analysis.” The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars created the inventory in 2005. Together with the Virginia Tech Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, the Wilson Center redeveloped the inventory, and Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science provided funding. The Wilson Center states that the re-launched inventory “seeks to ‘crowdsource’ expertise in an effort to create an inventory with more accurate information on consumer products.” It encourages users to register and submit “relevant data pertaining to nanoparticle function, location, and properties; potential exposure pathways; toxicity; and lifecycle assessment, as well as add product data and information on new products.”