
When will cleaning products be covered by mandatory [nano] labeling?
Detergents, stain removers, fabric softeners, dishwashing and toilet products, disinfectants, descalers, scouring creams, etc. In early February, ANSES proposed two methods for categorizing household products based on their level of danger to health and the environment. The goal? To better inform consumers and encourage manufacturers to improve the composition of these products. However, the experts who worked on this project regret not that the dangers of nanomaterials could not been taken into consideration, as brands are not required to disclose their presence in products.
Two methods for categorizing household products according to their hazards
The National Health and Environment Plan (PNSE 4) published in 2021 had planned to make the labeling of the household products we use on a daily basis more legible, in order to better inform consumers. To this end, the French National Health Safety Agency (Anses) has published a report proposing two methods of categorizing household products according to their health and environmental hazards.
This categorization is based on the health and environmental hazards of products and the substances they contain, including substances deemed to be of particular concern, such as those with carcinogenic, environmentally persistent or endocrine-disrupting effects. Anses also took other factors into account:
- how the products are used,
- the number of substances and therefore the probability of a “cocktail effect”,
- the presence of substances of limited interest in certain products, such as fragrances and colorants.
The aim of this initiative is to enable better-informed consumers to choose the least hazardous household products… which in turn will encourage manufacturers to improve the composition of these products.
A penalty for the presence of nanos…
The Anses working group would have liked to consider the presence of nanoparticles as a malus because of the many relative uncertainties:
- physico-chemical characterization,
- nanospecific risk assessment methods
- and their potential effects on health.
In the absence of available data, however, it has not been able to incorporate nanomaterials into its methods for calculating scores to categorize products according to their level of hazard.
… impossible because we can’t identify nanos in products!
In fact, it is currently impossible to identify whether or not a given household product contains nanosubstances (unless you have it tested1 See our product testing sheet, VeilleNanos)!
The report states that “the data available on the ECHA website [l’agence européenne des produits chimiques] are based on the European Commission’s definition recommendation, on which Anses has raised major points of disagreement. What’s more, the ECHA website only indicates that substances may exist in the form of nanomaterials, which is not necessarily the form in which the substances are found in household products. As the [groupe de travail] WG has not yet identified any other databases that would take this criterion into account, it has not been incorporated into the method”.
Half a dozen nanos in the r-nano register
Official reports summarizing the data declared each year in the r-nano register show that, every year, nanoparticulate substances are declared for use in the composition and/or manufacture of soaps, detergents and cleaning products2See the official reports published on the dedicated website www.r-nano.fr:
– polychloro copper phthalocyanine (green pigment),
– n-(5-chloro-2,4- dimethoxyphenyl)-4-[[5- [(diethylamino)sulphonyl]- 2-methoxyphenyl]azo]-3- hydroxynaphthalene-2- carboxamide (red pigment),
– carbon black (black pigment)
– yellow iron oxide, ci no. 77492 (yellow pigment)
– silica
– oxidized polyethylene
– others probably, not declared…
When will [nano] become mandatory on all products?
This focus on household products raises a more general problem: today, only cosmetics, packaged foods and biocides are covered by a European labeling obligation [nano] (which, unfortunately, is little respected).
→ It is urgent to extend the obligation to add the mention [nano] on the list of relevant ingredients for detergents and cleaning products, as, incidentally, for all consumer products. AVICENN has been calling for this for several years3See, for example, our report “En quête de [nanos] dans les produits du quotidien” (page 25) and the PNSE4 has also encouraged itcf.4action 13 (volet 4) of the PNSE 4.
In addition to this compulsory labeling, a risk assessment of the nanos concerned should be made compulsory BEFORE they are placed on the market. Sounds obvious, but… unfortunately it’s still not the case today!

Les dernières actus nano
Les prochains RDV nano


- Webinar presenting the example guide produced by NanoMesureFrance, to illustrate the difficulties encountered in dimensional analysis of particles by electron and atomic force microscopy.
- Organizers: Eurotox
- Speaker: Carola Voss (Helmholtz Zentrum München)
- Registration form

- MOOC from April 28 to June 22, 2025
- Public who has carried out two or more years of scientific studies at university, as well as professionals or the self-educated who want to discover, learn more or acquire specific knowledge in some area of nanoscience.
- Organizer: Paris Saclay University
- Course paln:
- Theme 1: Introduction to nanoscience and nanotechnology – Let’s lay the foundations and discover the key concepts of this field.
- Theme 2: How can you “see” and fabricate nano-objects? We will discover what tools are used to observe matter at these scales and what techniques the scientist can use to make objects that are only a few billionths of a meter in size.
- Theme 3: Nanochemistry – From carbon to porous solids and nanoparticle synthesis; applications of the field.
- Theme 4: Nanophysics – Quantum effects and nanoelectronic devices; optical nanostructures: the confinement of light and emission; nanosensors; applications of the field.
- Theme 5: Nanobiology, Nanomedicine, Micro-nanofluidics – The study and manipulation of molecules; treating diseases with nanomedicine; the on-chip manipulation of liquids for medical diagnosis; applications of the field.
- Theme 6: Nanoscience and Society: Are Nanotechnologies dangerous? Societal, health and environmental issues.
- Website: www.fun-mooc.fr/en/courses/understanding-nanosciences

- E-learning program: awareness-raising for personnel who come into contact with nanomaterials during research, formulation, production, maintenance, cleaning, upkeep, etc., as well as safety coordinators or engineers, facility managers, heads of laboratories where nanoparticles are handled.
- Organizers: INSTN Grenoble (CEA)
- On the program:
- 1 – Introduction, definition and characteristics of nanomaterials
- 2 – Toxicity of nanomaterials: the state of knowledge
- 3 – Metrology and characterization of nanomaterials
- 4 – Prevention and protection against nanomaterials in the workplace
- 5 – Quiz: assessment of learning outcomes
- The 2-hour course can be viewed for one month from the date of registration.
- Website: https://instn.cea.fr/…risques-lies-aux-nanomateriaux…
Notes and references
- 1See our product testing sheet, VeilleNanos
- 2See the official reports published on the dedicated website www.r-nano.fr
- 3See, for example, our report “En quête de [nanos] dans les produits du quotidien” (page 25)
- 4action 13 (volet 4) of the PNSE 4