Spotlight May 2021: Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials

Home > Spotlight May 2021: Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials

The European Commission’s new Action Plan for a Circular Economy Green Deal, the new European Industrial Strategy as well as the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability presented in October 2020 are ambitious plans to achieve a sustainable, fair and inclusive economy in the European Union. These strategies require that any new material or product must not only be functional and cost-efficient, but also safe and sustainable.

Nanotechnology is one of the technologies that could enable such green growth. This paper focuses on nanomaterials that actively respond to external stimuli, so-called “smart nanomaterials”. They are part of the broader category of “advanced materials”. It shows that smart nanomaterials and related products may pose new challenges for safety and sustainability assessment due to their complexity and dynamic behaviour. Innovators, scientists and authorities are called upon to further develop and promote the concept of “Safe and Sustainable-by-Design” in nanotechnology.

 

Original publication:

Gottardo, S., et al., Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials. NanoImpact, 2021. 21: p. 100297.

 

Spotlight May 2021: Towards safe and sustainable innovation in nanotechnology: State-of-play for smart nanomaterials

Weitere Spotlights


Spotlight April 2022: A new risk assessment of nanomaterials in 3D printing is needed

Spotlight April 2022: A new risk assessment of nanomaterials in 3D printing is needed

The use of nanomaterials in 3D printing has great potential. Due to the properties of nanoscale materials, many requirements can be implemented in 3D printing. However, these unique properties based on the size of the particles also lead to the need for new risk assessments. This is because if the nanoparticles are released in the […]

Read more

Spotlight October 2021: Nanopesticides – a proposal for a risk assessment framework

Spotlight October 2021: Nanopesticides – a proposal for a risk assessment framework

The application of so-called “nanopesticides” (see also cross-sectional text Nanomaterials in plant protection products) is said to have two basic advantages: a smaller amount of pesticide is needed for the same agricultural area and the efficacy is improved. This is necessary to grow enough food for a still growing world population. However, this could also […]

Read more

Spotlight October 2022: The titanium dioxide debate – why the current ECHA and EFSA hazard classification should be questioned

Spotlight October 2022: The titanium dioxide debate – why the current ECHA and EFSA hazard classification should be questioned

Due to various reports and scientific studies, titanium dioxide (TiO2)was also banned in Europe this year (2022) for use as a food additive with the indication that it could possibly be carcinogenic to humans. Although no case of tumour induction in humans has been reported since the use of this material in micro but also […]

Read more

Spotlight August 2021: Towards FAIR nanosafety data

Spotlight August 2021: Towards FAIR nanosafety data

In August we would like to present a paper on FAIR data. The paper published in Nature Nanotechnology in June 2021 summarises the challenges and provides recommendations for the efficient reuse of nanosafety data in line with the recently established FAIR guiding principles: findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. This article summarises the know-how on the […]

Read more

Skip to content