Nanotechnology development project

Thilakshi Yasaratna Assistant Director Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI)

To focus and enable growth of Nanotechnology in Sri Lanka, the project "Developing a regulatory framework for nanotechnology related activities in Sri Lanka," which is funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada through Department of External Resources, was launched on March 17, 2011. The aim of this project is to evaluate the Nanotechnology (NT) applications in Sri Lanka and to develop policies and regulations.

This project is comprised of sixwork areas, namely Regulatory Framework, Occupational Health and Safety, Socio economic impacts, Ethical and moral challenges, Experiencing sharing and communications for public engagement, Assessment of nanotechnology developments.

National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Institute of Policy Studies, Practical Action, Sri Lanka Institute Nanotechnology Center (SLINTEC) and Prof. Anoja Fernando are involved in carrying out the work related to this study.

Sri Lanka Standards Institution is responsible to explore and identify relevant existing local/international standards related to nanotechnology and standards likely to be set in future.

This is a multidisciplinary grouping of physical, chemical, biological, engineering and electronic processes, materials, applications and concepts in which the defining characteristic is size. Working at a scale 10,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair there are enormous potential benefits of nanotechnology. Increased energy efficiency, a cleaner environment, more effective medical treatment and improved manufacturing production are a few of them. Therefore, nanotechnologies are gaining in new commercial application and are currently being used in electronic, magnetic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, energy, catalytic and materials applications.

However, as a newly emerging technology, there may be many challenges to overcome when the products are proliferating into the market. Standards can help to overcome these challenges at every stage in developing a product or service, from idea to implementation, defining crucial aspects of safety, reliability and quality. Standards and publications will help ensure that nanotechnology is developed and commercialized in an open, safe and responsible manner.

In view of this a National Mirror Committee(NMC) on NT was formed with the participation of NT experts in Sri Lanka to be in par with the Technical Committee (TC 229) that has been established by ISO to cater to these needs of standardization in the field of Nanotechnology. The National Mirror Committee comprises of experts from Universities, Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS), Department of Measurement Units, Standards and services (MUSSD), SLINTEC, NIOSH and other relevant organizations in the country and chaired by Prof. Ajith De Alwis from the University of Moratuwa. The Secretariat of TC 229 is hosted at the British Standards Institution.

The scope of this Technical Committee has been defined by the ISO as given below.

Standardization in the field of nanotechnologies that includes either or both of the following:

1. Understanding and control of matter and processes at the nanoscale, typically, but not exclusively, below 100 nanometres in one or more dimensions where the onset of size-dependent phenomena usually enables novel applications,

2. Utilizing the properties of nanoscale materials that differ from the properties of individual atoms, molecules, and bulk matter, to create improved materials, devices, and systems that exploit these new properties.

Specific tasks include developing standards for: terminology and nomenclature; metrology and instrumentation, including specifications for reference materials; test methodologies; modelling and simulations; and science-based health, safety, and environmental practices.

This Committee has published thirty ISO standards to date with the participation of 34 countries while 12 countries have participated as observers. Sri Lanka Standard Institution is a member of TC 229 and the draft standards are circulated among National Mirror Committee members. Their comments are discussed at NMC meetings and sent to TC 229 Secretariat for consideration.

SLSI has adopted nine ISO standards on NT as Sri Lanka Standards introducing a new numbering system as SLS 12000 series of standards.

These standards are on terminology, health and safety practices in occupational settings relevant to nanotechnologies, nano material risk evaluation, methodology for the classification and categorization of nanomaterials.

This is the first time SLSI has identified and developed a series of standard with a focus on one area.