Public Views of Nanotechnology

Despite lacking concrete knowledge about nanotechnology, most Americans hold a generally positive view of the emerging science and believe the technology’s potential benefits outweigh its perceived risks. At the same time, most Americans do not trust business leaders in the nanotechnology industry to minimize potential risks to humans.

Those are some of the key findings of a study conducted by North Carolina State University researchers in the first nationally representative survey designed to gauge the public’s perceptions about nanotechnology. The telephone survey polled a random sample of 1,536 adults in the continental United States in the spring of 2004 and is part of a larger research project studying public perceptions of nanotechnology that is funded by a $135,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

More than 80 percent of those polled indicated they had heard “little” or “nothing” about nanotechnology, and most could not correctly answer factual questions about it. However, despite knowing very little about the science, 40 percent of respondents predicted nanotechnology would produce more benefits than risks. Another 38 percent believed risks and benefits of nanotechnology would be about equal, and only 22 percent said risks outweigh the benefits.

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