To address some of the concerns about risk and regulation an international group of scientists from both the United States and Europe is now calling for a mandatory frame work for dealing with nanomaterials used by commercial companies, but one problem with introducing regulation is that different countries and industries have very different approaches to how they deal with possible risks, and that's even if the scientists have worked out exactly what the risks are.

It's very much about the science that we've simply got to stop there; we've got to work out what is difference and what could possibly cause harm. We've got to work out the rules of how we use information, how we make wise sensible choices when it comes to regulating materials. If you are regulating things you won't make sure you'll protect people we don't want to regulate because it just harms the industry so the people end up losing jobs, they don't have the products they want.

The rise of nanotechnology holds a promise of a new cleaner industrial revolution for the world, but the dangers are clear. If the scientists and regulators don't get a right the risk could overweight the benefits all of us as consumers of the world's newest technologies.

So, now nano particles have become available in such a wide range of everyday products many environment list governments and scientists want to see tougher regulations being imposed to assess possible risks and to inform consumers which are current regulations governing the safety of food, cosmetics and other consumer products are not specific enough to deal properly with the threats posed by nanotechnology.

It's a combination of the fact that the science is still evolving and therefore we have not enough to go on to develop a good regulatory system, but also the fact that the regulatory systems we have in place frequently don't require sufficient testing of these materials and a demonstration of their safety before they are allowed into the market. But while the science is still developing and regulation is struggling to keep scientists working in the world of the extremely small have big hopes about how it might help humanity in future.

Almost anywhere you look someone somewhere is using nanotechnology to alter value of the consumer products.

Nano in the high street is peering in the goods across the spectrum, but in a very simple way, so, for instance, if you're buying clothes you can buy clothes which are stain resistant because they've got a nanotech coating on them; if you're buying spoiling goods you can buy things like tennis rackets or golf clubs that are stronger than lighter because of the nanotech in them. If you're buying cosmetics - there are a number of cosmetic items round there which claim to be better, make you feel younger, make you feel fresher because of nanotech.

But unless you look up in inventory you are unlikely to be aware when you buy a sunscreen or a lunchbox whether it contains nano particles. Manufacturers are under no obligation to tell the public that a product uses nanotechnology, and scientists are still not entirely sure what effect those particles could be having on people or the environment or whether they could be toxic.