Benefit/risk analysis
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Benefit/risk analyses of products containing nanos
By the AVICENN team – Last modification in April 2022
The benefit/risk analysis of products containing nanos must cover the whole life cycle of the products and integrate the impacts for all involved… especially the most vulnerable.
It is not only the health and environmental risks associated with nanomaterials that need to be carefully assessed.
The benefits of nanos also need to be seriously examined and evaluated.
For each type of product, the following questions arise:
- What needs are nanomaterials supposed to meet?
- What functions do they perform? Are they essential? Useful or futile? Who benefits (manufacturers / distributors / users)?
- What evidence is there of the benefits described? Are they provided in understandable language? On a sales pitch or on a safety data sheet?
- Do these pieces of information describe noticeable, perceptible and important benefits to you?
- How are decisions made: who decides what, at what point in the innovation life cycle? Which stakeholders are impacted at each stage of the innovation life cycle? Have they been able to express an opinion and is it taken into account?
- Is the use of nanomaterials limited, reserved for a confined professional environment?
- Will the health, environmental and social impacts be significantly altered by a commercial extension to the general public?
- Have the consequences of a generalization of these products integrating nanomaterials / nanotechnologies been simulated?
- Have waste flow simulations been done?
- Do alternatives exist? and are they more or less “effective” than the advertised properties related to “added nanos”?
Elsewhere on the web
In French :
- Ecological transition in research: greener chemistry for a sustainable world, Pierre Lalanne, La Recherche, 28 March 2022
In English:
-
Forget microplastics: we may have a much smaller problem, The Guardian, 25 April 2022
Any questions or comments? This information sheet compiled by AVICENN is intended to be completed and updated. Please feel free to contribute.
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Upcoming Nano Agenda
11
Juin
2025
Risk assessment of nanomaterials and materials containing small/nanoparticles in the food and feed chain (EFSA, Brussels & online)
On line
Workshop
- Workshop on risk assessment of nanomaterials and materials containing small/nanoparticles in the food and feed chain
- Organizer: EFSA
- This workshop will present the proposed strategy for updating the EFSA Nano Guidance documents, aiming to merge them into a single guidance on risk assessment for nanomaterials and small/nanoparticles in the food and feed chain.
The event will provide an open platform for discussing key issues, approaches to addressing them, and ensuring the guidance reflects the latest scientific knowledge. Stakeholders will be encouraged to share experiences and engage with regulators, helping shape the updated guidance. - Website: www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/workshop-risk-assessment-nanomaterials-and-materials-containing-smallnanoparticles-food-and
17
Juin
2025
Nanocharacterization for the study of materials and structures (CEA, Grenoble – France)
Grenoble
Training
- This course is designed for engineers or senior technicians working in the field of micro and nanotechnologies in public or industrial laboratories, who need to solve problems related to controlling the properties of materials at the nanometric scale during their development and/or integration into devices.
- Organizers: INSTN Grenoble (CEA)
- June 17 to July 3, 2025
- Website: https: //instn.cea.fr/formation/nano-caracterisation-pour-letude-des-materiaux-et-structures
19
Juin
2025
Advancing Safety & Sustainability Assessments of Advanced Materials (Horizon Europe, Paris)
Paris
Conference
- Joint Regulatory Risk Assessors Summit
- Organizers: the Horizon Europe projects ACCORDs, iCare, MACRAMÉ, and nanoPASS
- Object: Addressing the needs of industry and regulators in assessing the safety and sustainability of advanced materials
- Location: OECD
- Website: https://icareproject.eu/…advanced-materials
File initially put on line in October 2013