US NGO launches lawsuit against EPA’s policy on nanosilver

The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency in a move aimed at limiting public exposure to nanosilver used as an antimicrobial in textiles. The lawsuit, filed in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, seeks to block the EPA from allowing nanosilver on the market without the legally-required data about its effects on humans and wildlife, which NRDC suspects are harmful. EPA has conditionally registered nanosilver for use in textiles and as a result does not have all the legally-required toxicity data, says NRDC.

The group notes that in December 2011, EPA permitted HeiQ Materials to sell nanosilver used in fabrics for the next four years as the company generates the required data on toxicity to human health and aquatic organisms. “EPA gave this company a four-year free pass to sell an inadequately tested product,” said Mae Wu, programme attorney in NRDC’s health programme. “EPA’s approval of nanosilver is just the most recent example in a long line of decisions that treats humans and our environment as guinea pigs for these untested pesticides.”

• NRDC blog