Managing the risks

Manufactured and engineered nanomaterials are used in a diverse range of applications including personal care, consumer products, healthcare, electronics, photonics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. The regulatory landscape for these different types of products can be quite different in different regions and in general, has not as yet been evolved to take account of the specific issues with some nanomaterials.

In addition for most new NPs there are major gaps in what we know about how they behave both in terms of exposure and toxicity. These include how we should measure exposure to them, what exposure levels are associated with their manufacture and use, and the effectiveness of methods to control exposure. In most cases, we do not have good knowledge or models to understand how toxic they are, where they can end up in the body anther relationship between dose and heath response. Risk ultimately depends on exposure and toxicity (without exposure there is no risk) and so given these gaps, the diverse range of applications, effective risk assessment and management is problematic.

Responsible development of these new materials and products requires that risks to health and the general environment associated with the development, production, use and disposal of these materials are addressed. This is necessary not only to protect the relevant workforce, the public and the ecosystem, but also to ensure that unfounded public concerns do not hamper the development of new, potentially beneficial materials. Risk assessments do need to be done even though knowledge is incomplete.

In the absence of specific regulation and guidance, decisions on risk management approaches should be suitably cautious and should be based on the best available emerging evidence.