In an article published on March 30, 2015 in the newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald, journalist Esther Han reports that Australian health campaigners call for a mandatory register of nanomaterials and products containing nanomaterials and new labelling laws for all products containing nanomaterials. Especially they call for Australia to regulate the use of nanosized silver in consumer products. Han highlights that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently agreed to launch a review-and-approve regime for the use of nanosilver in new products. EPA’s decision is an important first step towards ensuring consumer safety and Australians deserve the same protection, says Jeremy Tager, Friends of the Earth campaigner. Globally, nanosilver is used in food and food contact materials (FCMs) such as baby bottles. Tager criticized the Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ) decision from November 2014 to exclude nanomaterials from its review of chemical migration from packaging into food. It is time FSANZ stopped putting business first and put public safety first instead, he asserts. FSANZ defended its decision by arguing that migration risks from nanomaterials were “not well defined and may need to be examined separately”. Spokeswoman for FSANZ stressed that in the case FSANZ becomes aware of risks to consumers from nanomaterials in packaging, there is the capacity to introduce packaging requirements beyond those currently in place.
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Esther Han (March 30, 2015). “Green group intensifies calls for ban on nano-materials in food and packaging.” The Sydney Morning Herald
