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Challenges of Regulation and Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials

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NANEX: Development <strong>of</strong> Exposure Scenarios for Manufactured<br />

<strong>Nanomaterials</strong><br />

van Tongeren M. 1 , Clark K. 2 , Brouwer D. 3 , Christensen C. 4 , Micheletti C. 4 , Friedrichs S. 5 ,<br />

Nowack B. 6 , Gottschalk F. 6 , Schmid K. 1 , Aitken R. 1 , Vaquero C. 7 , Gkanis V. 8 , Uzu G. 9 , Golanski<br />

L. 9 , Gerritsen R. 3 , Riediker M. 2<br />

1IOM, Edinburgh UK; 2 IST, Lausanne, Switzerl<strong>and</strong>.; 3 TNO, Zeist, The Netherl<strong>and</strong>s; 4 JRC-IHCP, Ispra, Italy; 5 NIA,<br />

Brussels, Belgium; 6 EMPA, St. Gallen, Switzerl<strong>and</strong>; 7 LEIA, Miñano, Spain; 8 Demokritos, Athens, Greece; 9 CEA,<br />

Grenoble, France<br />

Exposure scenarios are important tools in risk management <strong>and</strong> generally include information on<br />

substance, process <strong>and</strong> activities, presence <strong>of</strong> any risk management measures, <strong>and</strong> estimates <strong>of</strong><br />

exposure. NANEX aimed to develop occupational <strong>and</strong> consumer exposure scenarios for carbon<br />

nanotubes, nano-TiO2 <strong>and</strong> nano-silver based on currently available information. The consumer<br />

exposure scenarios were based on models, while the occupational scenarios were developed using<br />

exposure data from literature <strong>and</strong> two measurement campaigns. In total, 57 occupational <strong>and</strong> 5<br />

consumer exposure scenarios were developed. A number <strong>of</strong> exposure scenarios were developed in<br />

partnership with companies using or manufacturing nanomaterials. Many scenarios lacked contextual<br />

information, such as presence <strong>of</strong> risk management measures, duration <strong>of</strong> activities, operational<br />

conditions, etc. In addition, measurements were <strong>of</strong>ten carried out to characterize emission rather<br />

than exposure <strong>and</strong> several studies were carried out in laboratory or pilot studies, rather than real-life<br />

conditions. More detailed information on operating conditions <strong>and</strong> risk management measures were<br />

available for the development <strong>of</strong> the case study scenarios. However, the case studies did not explore<br />

all downstream use exposure scenarios. The outcome <strong>of</strong> NANEX clearly demonstrates that the<br />

currently available exposure data is <strong>of</strong> insufficient quality to develop robust <strong>and</strong> reliable exposure<br />

scenarios. To improve the quality <strong>of</strong> the exposure descriptions <strong>and</strong> potential for data sharing a<br />

minimum data set is proposed, including nano-specific <strong>and</strong> generic information. In addition, research<br />

needs were identified. In the short-term there is a need for harmonization <strong>of</strong> exposure metrics, for<br />

verification <strong>of</strong> effectiveness <strong>of</strong> risk management measures <strong>and</strong> for development <strong>of</strong> risk management<br />

strategies to be applied while waiting for development <strong>of</strong> more detailed exposure <strong>and</strong> risk<br />

assessment methodologies. Longer term research needs to focus on collection <strong>of</strong> high quality<br />

exposure <strong>and</strong> contextual data over the life cycle <strong>of</strong> nanomaterials, the advancement <strong>of</strong> our<br />

underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> multi-metric exposure <strong>and</strong> the key exposure determinants, as well as the<br />

development, calibration <strong>and</strong> validation <strong>of</strong> nano-specific exposure estimation models.<br />

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