Nanotechnology may be rough for cleaning crews

Nanotechnology is all about small objects — less than 100 microns — and big expectations.

Nanotechnology has been likened to the next Industrial Revolution. The National Science Foundation predicted the global market for nanotechnology would reach $1 trillion in 10 years.

The predictions might turn out to be just so much hype — sort of like how we were told in the 1990s that we would soon need all the fiber optic capacity that telecoms were furiously installing. But nanotechnology looks like it has a great deal of potential.

The super small particles and structures — stuff like Bucky balls and carbon nanotubes — have great versatility. They show potential for uses from high-definition, flatscreen TVs to detecting and fighting cancer.

Of course if nanotechnology takes off, it will make a mess — just like the original Industrial Revolution did. It will probably be a smaller mess — but that’s not necessarily good news.

The reason these particles have so much potential is their size and the fact they don’t always follow conventional laws of physics.

"That’s a double-edged sword," said Michael Moffitt, vice president of environmental services for Western Technologies, a Phoenix consulting firm. Moffitt was speaking to a group at the Semiconductor Environmental, Safety Association convention in Scottsdale last week.

The audience was made up people whose jobs in the not-too-distant future are likely to entail cleaning up nanomesses.

Moffitt says nanotechnology poses a couple of challenges for the cleaning crews. The first is detecting and measuring the hazards. Not that much is known about how some of these particles might interact with living tissue.

The second challenge is the potential for hysteria surrounding nanotechnology — hysteria that may be coming to a theater near you.

A couple years ago, Michael Crichton, author of "Jurassic Park" and creator of the TV show "ER," wrote a book called "Prey." It’s about a nanotechnology disaster in which robots consume us — and our pets — and keep replicating themselves. This phenomenon is called "Grey Goo."

Anyway "Prey" is going to be made into a movie. And Moffitt fears this will frame public debate.

The consensus among scientists is that a "Grey Goo" incident is not really possible. In fact after a long, public debate with Rick Small, who shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Bucky balls, the guy who originated the concept of "Grey Goo," Eric Drexler said he wished he’d never come up with it.

Crichton’s latest book is about environmental groups run amok. Moffitt hopes this is a sign that the author will use his influence to tone down the message of the movie.

I think that’s optimistic. But I really don’t know how the movie will turn out — or for that matter if the nanotechnology industry will live up to its promise.

No matter what, there is one real breakthrough.

Some one is actually thinking about cleaning up a technological mess before it happens. And there’s nothing small about that.