THE Australian public has high expectations of nanotechnology, the science of small things, with 86 per cent of people stating that they are positive about it, believing it will lead to an improvement in quality of life, employment and the economy.
This is one of the key findings of a study into public attitudes towards nanotechnology, released today by the Australian Government.
According to Dr Craig Cormick, the Manager of Public Awareness for the Australian Office of Nanotechnology
“The study found that while awareness of nanotechnology was increasing, with 66 per cent awareness, detailed understanding was still fairly low, at about eight per cent.”
Nanotechnology involves the use of materials at the scale of one ten-thousandth the breadth of a human hair, a scale at which new properties can be obtained that can result in new products or processes.
The study, conducted by the independent company Market Attitude Research Services, is the third undertaken since 2005, and shows trends in public attitudes, which are predominantly moving towards people seeing the benefits (53 per cent) of nanotechnology far outweighing the risks (3 per cent).
“Even when asked about specific risks, such as health and safety or environmental risks, most people remained quite positive and hopeful about nanotechnology.
“The lowest supported application was changing nutrients and vitamins in foods, which was viewed as negative by 33 per cent of respondents, yet positive by 32 per cent,” Dr Cormick said.
“Most people surveyed felt that nanotechnology would improve their quality of life and wanted to know more about it and its potential applications.”
Applications with the highest levels of support were improved medical treatments and preventions (97 per cent support) and improved technologies for the environment (71 per cent support).
The survey was conducted by telephone polling of a randomly selected group of 1,100.
