In 2005, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies looked closely at government-funded research addressing the environmental, health, and safety impact of nanotechnology. Investment in highly relevant research was low: in the United States, it was only an estimated 1% of the $1.1 billion federal investment in nanotechnology research and development.
不幸的是，迄今为止全球对于这一挑战的回应并不那么积极。2005年，伍德罗威尔逊国际学者中心新兴纳米技术计划考察了由政府资助的对于纳米技术的环境、健康和安全影响的研究项目。在高度相关的研究上的投资非常低：在美国，这方面的投资大约只占联邦在纳米技术的研究和开发上的11亿美元投资的1%。