According to Andrew Chen, ethical concerns about nanotechnologies should include the possibility of their military applications, the dangers posed by self-replicant nanomachines, and their use for surveillance monitoring and tracking.
[4] For the EEA [3] the challenge posed by nano-materials are due to their properties of being novel, biopersistent, readily dispersed, and bioaccumulative; by analogy, thousands cases of mesothelioma were caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust.
Nanotechnology belongs to the class of emerging technology known as GRIN: geno-, robo-, info- nano-technologies.
Another common acronym is NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science).
These technologies are hoped[5] - or feared,[6] depending on the viewpoint, to be leading to improving human bodies and functionalities, see transhumanism.