The general R&D market with respect to nanotechnology is now large and growing quickly.  It includes product development research across a very wide field of activities The USA National Science Foundation estimates the nano market will rise to US$700 billion by 2008 and US$1 trillion by 2015. Government investment in Nanotechnology now exceeds US$3 billion per annum.

There is a great deal of concern about the health effects of nanoparticles released into the environment unintentionally and there are many research projects investigating health effects. About 10% of the investment in R&D programmes in nanotechnologies is allocated to Environment Health and Safety (EHS). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the US EPA amongst others have allocated substantial funds for nano-research the results of which are likely to play a key role in the development and formulation of regulations to govern the legal, approval and social aspects of the commercialisation of nanotechnologies.

Effective investigative instrumentation is an essential prerequisite for research into all aspect of nanotechnology. Since the effects of nanoparticles are determined by their size and number these are the key basic attributes which must be determined.

The Naneum ‘SAC’ and ‘WRAS’ ranges of investigative and sampling instruments are ideally positioned to help researchers obtain relevant and cost effective results quickly.