ONCE bitten, twice shy. After suffering huge weather-related losses as a result of climate change, the insurance industry has turned its attention to the possible risks posed by nanotechnology.
On 10 May, the global reinsurance company Swiss Re published its findings on potential hazards of nanoparticles, specks of material no more than 100 nanometres across.
Such particles are being manufactured in bulk for novel materials, for use in cosmetics and for experimental drugs. The report draws on more than 100 scientific papers to reveal that these tiny particles can pass unhindered into the human body and float freely through the environment.
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鈥淲e are concerned because we do not have a proper picture of the risks that are related to the technology,鈥� says Marcel Buerge, head of risk engineering services for Swiss Re. If nanoparticles are harmful, as some studies hint, Swiss Re could end up footing the bill.
Academics and activists alike have greeted the report with delight. 鈥淭hey are singing the same tune as us,鈥� says Kristen Kulinowski of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She suggests that the threat of greater insurance premiums for nanotechnology companies will force them to be clearer about the risks involved. It鈥檚 all about the bottom line, she says.