Possible negative impacts on human health and the environment from increasing exposure to manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) is a growing concern. As products incorporating nanomaterials are continually being released onto the market, there is now an urgent need to create a sound scientific basis from which to assess potential risks to workers, consumers and ecosystems. There are, however, currently no commonly agreed upon methods for generating robust and reliable knowledge about the health and environmental risks posed by novel nanomaterials; a situation that threatens to hamper both the innovative potential of nanomaterials and their public acceptance. To understand the potential risks to human health and the environment, it is urgent that reliable methods and common standards for regulatory testing are developed and applied as soon as possible.
NorNanoReg: A national initiative to develop a common approach to regulatory testing
NorNanoReg is an NFR funded national initiative towards the development of a common approach to the regulatory testing of manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs).
The goals of the NorNanoReg project are to:
1. Evaluate the adequacy and appropriateness of using existing methods for both characterizing MNMs and assessing their health and safety impacts
2. Develop novel models and methods for testing where necessary, particularly emphasizing high throughput techniques to allow rapid testing of the large and growing number of MNMs.
3. Generate relevant information on the potential adverse health and environmental impacts of MNMs using reliable methods
4. Encourage the research results to inform risk assessment and regulatory decision-making on MNMs
5. Advance effective transdisciplinary communication between those developing MNMs, those studying their risks, and those responsible for their regulation.
NorNanoReg is coordinated by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) and involves a further six national partner institutes: the University of Bergen, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, SINTEF, the National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI), GenØk Centre for Biosafety, and Comet Biotech.
NANoREG: A European initiative to develop a common approach to regulatory testing
NorNanoReg represents the Norwegian national initiative and consortium within a broader European effort to develop a common approach to the regulatory testing of nanomaterials. NANoREG (www.nanoreg.eu) is an FP7 flagship project involving 16 participating countries and 63 partner institutes. Based on questions and requirements supplied by regulators and legislators, NANoREG seeks to: (i) provide answers and solutions from existing data, complemented with new knowledge, (ii) provide a tool box of relevant instruments for risk assessment, characterisation, toxicity testing and exposure measurements of MNMs, (iii) develop, for the long term, new testing strategies adapted to innovation requirements, (iv) establish a close collaboration among authorities, industry and science leading to efficient and practically applicable risk management approaches for MNMs and products containing MNMs.
Contact & further information
For further information about the project and its results, you can contact:
Lise Fjellsbø, NILU, e-mail: lbf@nilu.no