In my opinion, the development of nanoparticles is inevitable. Indeed, nanoparticles may do a great deal to improve certain technologies, maybe even enable us to come up with new technologies. Nevertheless, we must not forget that we developed flame retardants that were integrated into components that the public is exposed to on an everyday basis. We thought that these flame retardants were stable and they have been used inside residential buildings. Today, we are all being exposed to them and we are just starting to see certain toxic effects in people.
We must also remember that, in the case of many environmental components we are still working on—for instance, PCBs or organochlorine pesticides that were once used and have been banned for many years, 30 or 40 years—we are still able to measure them in the human organism. So these products are still creating disorders, disrupting the endocrine system, etc.
If we want to legislate for health reasons, I think that we need to market—that would be good—but also focus on health and invest in the right places. So a Canada-wide coordinating committee would be the solution.