Letters to the Minister of Health on Nanoparticles and the Precautionary Principle

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The precautionary principle was ignored. This is particularly true of the emerging science of nanoparticles. In spite of repeated questioning, the proponents ignored these questions with the repeated mantra that the facility will meet all standards. That’s because there are no standards for nanoparticles because we don’t know how to measure them and we don’t know how to trap them. But we do know that they cause serious disease.
 

Particulate matter is a major contributor to smog and associated health problems. Technology allows us to test for PM2.5 (2.5 microns) and this is included in the monitoring regime of the proposed incinerator.

Nanoparticles are smaller than that – they can not be filtered out and they are below the range at which we can measure them. But they are there and they are causing serious health issues.

Nanoparticles are a new and emerging science.

•    Nanoparticles are mostly manmade – this is significant because evolution hasn’t given us the tools to deal with them
•    They are predominantly products of very hot combustion (e.g. Incineration) - they result when vapourized solids condense rapidly back to the solid phase.
•    The reactivity of any particulate is proportional to its surface area and as you reduce the size of particles, the relative surface area – and its reactivity - increases dramatically
•    They can contain unpredictable mixtures of dissimilar compounds which coalesce during this condensation phase.
•    Nanoparticles are so small they can penetrate cell and nuclear membranes where they are believed capable of disrupting genes and causing cancers
•    They have been identified at the heart of granulomas in cases of Gulf War syndrome
•    They are so small that they will carry for hundreds or even thousands of miles in the air and when they settle, they can be incorporated into plants and animals and begin a path up the food chain

This is where the ‘Precautionary Principle’ should kick in. Where safe alternatives exist, it should be regarded as an act of criminal negligence to approve a facility which has the potential to cause severe sickness and death.

The potential long-term health costs of building such a facility will be far greater than the cost of the facility itself.