>
Spotlight March 2022: Safe Materials from Scratch – Safe-by-Design-Concept in action
In recent decades, German research on nanomaterials and new, innovative materials has been widely expanded by material safety aspects. European initiatives also pay significant attention to this: both the European Union (EU) Green Deal, and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) aim to create a sustainable, climate-neutral economy with sustainable and safe chemicals and products, while better protecting human health and the environment. The focus is on fostering innovation while addressing global challenges.
The Safe-by-Design (SbD) strategy for nanomaterials and innovative materials is one approach to address precisely these challenges (see also Spotlight Research of November 2021). Risks to humans and the environment should ideally be identified, assessed, and reduced on an early stage of the development process. The European Horizon 2020 project NanoRegII also deals with safe-by-design and is the first project that has now conducted a practical test of the safe-by-design concept. The NanoRegII safe-by-design strategy was implemented at six companies. The experience gained was then evaluated and guidelines for practical implementation of the safe-by-design strategy for the future were developed. In addition to being informative, the guidelines also contain several tools that are intended to help identify risks at an early stage. This should enable an assessment at each step in the innovation process as to whether the innovation should be continued and, if so, which safe-by-design measures need to be further applied to reduce uncertainties. The guidelines thus offer a first approach that can be adapted by each company to its specific requirements for innovation.
Original Publication:
Sánchez Jiménez, A. et al 2022 Safe(r) by design guidelines for the nanotechnology industry. NanoImpact 25, 100385.
Weitere Spotlights
Spotlight January 2023: Special issue on Methods and Protocols in Nanotoxicology published
In the first Spotlight of the new year, we present a special issue on methods and protocols in nanotoxicology published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. There are still too few harmonized protocols accepted by the scientific community. To improve this situation, project activities are started and special issues of journals like this one are […]
Read moreSpotlight May 2023: Dual energy – edible batteries
An Italian research group reports on edible batteries that supply electric current and can be digested as food, thus providing energy a second time. What sounds funny at first has a serious background, because in medicine, power sources are needed that could be transported through the digestive tract and possibly remain in the body unintentionally, […]
Read moreSpotlight April 2023: Recycling rare earths – bacteria assist in the circular economy
Rare earths are important components of wind turbines, catalytic converters, fibre optic cables and plasma screens. Since the 17 metals grouped under this term are indispensable for modern technologies, demand and costs are constantly rising. The occurrence of productive mining sites is limited and the production is often costly and environmentally harmful. The advantages of […]
Read moreSpotlight January 2022: Methods, models, mechanisms and metadata
For the new year, we are presenting no “classic” paper here, but would like to point out an editorial: Methods, Models, Mechanisms and Metadata: Introduction to the Nanotoxicology Collection at F1000 Research. This editorial introduces the F1000Research Nanotoxicology Collection, where best practices can be collected in the form of original research reports, including no-effect studies, […]
Read more