Challenges of Regulation and Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials

Challenges of Regulation and Risk Assessment of
Nanomaterials,
a Joint JRC – ENPRA Workshop organized in the frame of the
JRC Enlargement and Integration Action
1. INTRODUCTION
The Joint JRC Nano event and 2 nd ENPRA Workshop on Challenges of Regulation and Risk Assessment
of Nanomaterials, held in Somma Lombardo the 10-12 May 2011, intended to present the last
findings of European research projects in the nanosafety field, with particular emphasis on the ENPRA
project results. The main goal was to discuss these results having in mind the regulatory needs and
experiences in Europe, US, and China. This discussion intended to contribute to building a bridge
between researchers, industry, and regulators. Another main goal of the workshop was to promote
collaboration among JRC, European Union research groups and researchers in enlargement countries.
The early involvement of researchers and regulators of candidate and potential candidate countries
into the European nanosafety network is important to foster a fruitful future collaboration and to
smooth the implementation of nanosafety-related regulations.
The Workshop was organized by the Nanobiosciences Unit of the European Commission's Institute
for Health and Consumer Protection of the Joint Research Centre (IHCP/JRC). There were about 80
invited participants, from national (e.g. national chemical agencies, health ministries, environmental
agencies, US-EPA, European Commission DG, EU agencies) regulatory bodies, and
researchers/regulators participating to international initiatives such as those led by OECD and ISO.
Single industries as well as industrial associations (e.g. NIA, pigments associations, cosmetics
association, etc.) were also represented, as well as researchers from universities and national
institutes (e.g. China, Netherlands, UK). The final agenda and the full participants list are included as
annexes to this document. A link to the presentations can be found at:
http://ihcp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/events_workshops/joint-jrc-nano-enpra-2011/program/presentations
The workshop was arranged in sessions. The first day was devoted to regulatory development and
implementation. It was followed by one and a half days for the presentation and discussion of
scientific results on characterization, exposure, and effects. To allow enough time for discussion, a
‘podium discussion’ was organized at the end of each session, where the speakers and the audience
were involved in an open dialogue about the session topic.
The presentations content and the discussion results are reported in the next chapters, followed by
the abstracts of the presentations.
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