Swiss Re: nanotech potentially huge problem

The threat to people’s health from nanotechnology means insurers could be exposed to claims on a scale similar to the asbestos scares of the 20th century, according to Zurich-based Swiss Reinsurance.

Nanotechnogy is the engineering of functional systems on the molecular scale and is predicted to offer significant breakthroughs in areas such as medicine and engineering.

However, speaking at Risk’s European event in Frankfurt, Edi Schmid, chief risk officer of Swiss Re’s property & casualty divisi