Benny the Bear

Benny the Bear is a 12-inch tall stuffed bear with memory foam stuffing impregnated with nanosilver that sold for about $35. According to the maker, Pure Plushy, Inc., the nanosilver particles make the product “naturally antimite, antimold, antimicrobe” and serves as a “safe, clinically proven antibacterial agent that fights harmful bacteria at the respiratory level.” The company's literature strongly implies that by eliminating such organisms, the bear would lower the transfer of illnesses between children and reduce the problems that traditional stuffed animals pose for children with allergies and asthma. The bear was released in 2006 and was awarded a 2006 Family Choice Award and a Creative Child Magazine Creative Toy Awards 2007 Seal of Excellence, and was featured on the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Benny the Bear was just one of the line of products produced by Pure Plushy that included nanosilver. Also available were Lany the Lamb, Cody the Cow, Bonny the Bunny, and Donny the Dog. Benny gained the most fame because of the attention raised by Andrew Maynard of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. In December 2007, Maynard wrote about Benny in his blog for SAFENANO Community. Maynard noted that Pure Plushy's Website about the product had changed over time. Originally it proudly touted the use of nanotechnology, but over time, those references were deleted or buried deep within the Website. Maynard did not explicitly question the safety of the bear, but rather used Pure Plushy as an example of one of the many companies that were increasingly secretive about their use of nanotechnology.

As a result of the questions posed by Maynard and others, Pure Plushy stopped using nanosilver in Benny the Bear. As Roy Shadra, a partner in Pure Plushy argued in an interview, “We have used nanosilver in the past there is a lot of speculation as to how much nanosilver technology is accepted. Anytime you see controversy you try to sort of avoid it,” Gellerman said. Maynard argued that Pure Plushy stopped using nanosilver not because it believed it was a direct danger, but that the potential for bad press and uncertainties about regulation made it a business risk. Although Pure Plushy did not recall Benny the Bear, Shadra contended that Benny would continue to be produced with a revised design. He claimed the company would replace the nanosilver with a more conventional antimicrobial chemical.