Development of chemically and structurally diverse nanomaterials promises enhanced product applications in medicine, communication, foodstuffs and food packaging, dietary supplements, over-the-counter drugs, and many other consumer products ranging from cosmetics and toothpaste to paints and clothing. The number of consumer products containing nanomaterials has risen steadily over the past 5 years, with the addition of 243 new products per year and more than 1,300 products reported as of March 10, 20112 in the Nanotechnology Consumer Products Inventory. This linear rate of increase has not been an exponential explosion, nor has it involved very many types of “bottom up” engineered nanomaterials constructed from the molecular level, although it represents a 521 percent increase in listed products since the inception of the Inventory in March 2006.

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