October 29, 2008

by Teresa L. Debuque

World-renowned scientist Pat Mooney called on the Philippine Government, at a Manila forum this October, to investigate the use of nano ingredients in food, cosmetics, clothing, and other appliances, warning that these small, almost invisible, ingredients could enter the body and compromise a person’s immune system.

Mooney is in the Philippines to speak before the government and the scientific community on the potential impacts of nanotechnology and synthetic biology. He was invited by The Third World Network (TWN) and the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE).

Mooney said that “no one is safe” from the effects of nanotechnology. As many as 800 products being sold in the country, including sunscreens and cosmetics, have undergone nanotechnology processes, added Mooney. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular level.

“No nanotechnology should touch human skin,” Mooney said, explaining that the small organisms, which are virtually invisible, could seep into the skin and circulate through the body."

The market for nanotechnology is worth $700 billion and is expected to hit $2.6 trillion by 2015. “Scientists predict that within a decade, giving birth to a living, self-replicating organism from a simple bacterial genome inserted into an empty bacterial cell will become no big deal,” said Mooney.

He urged the Philippine government to regulate the use of nanotechnology to assure that it does not harm Filipinos.