New EU criteria for assessing risk from nanomaterials

As a regulatory review looms, the €2.4 million Framework Programme 7 Nanohouse project on the ‘Life cycle of nanoparticle-based products used in house coating’ has devised new criteria for assessing the risks that nanomaterials pose to human health and the environment.

The project, funded under the 'Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies' theme of FP7 has found that the design of nanomaterials can have an impact on the unintentional release of particles.

Nanomaterials can be manipulated to imbue different physical, chemical and mechanical properties, for application in sectors ranging from healthcare to construction. Amongst other useful properties, nanomaterials may be resistant to ultraviolet light, flame retardant, scratch-proof or self-cleaning.

Making responsible decisions about the development and deployment of such nanomaterials requires information about product life cycles to be combined with a systematic evaluation of the types of hazard that could emerge. The Nanohouse team says that although concerns have been raised about the unintentional release of nanoparticles into the environment from products such as paints, as yet there are no precise tools for assessing risk.

Nanohouse was led by the French atomic energy authority, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), with researchers and industry partners from Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. They evaluated data from past research studies to shed light on what people know about the potential risks posed by nanomaterials used in nanotextiles and building coatings. They also performed novel mathematical modelling of the behaviour of nanomaterials and human toxicology.

The new criteria are timely, since the European Commission is due to complete a review of nanomaterials before the end of 2011, which will consider if they should be included in the REACH chemicals regulations.

More information: NANOHOUSE