NaNoREG final report.

Nanotechnology is one of the six “Key Enabling Technologies” (KETs), the European Commission
identified in its 2012 Communication on this topic. These technologies enable the development of
new goods and services and the restructuring of industrial processes needed to modernize EU
industry. They are of paramount importance for the transition to a knowledge-based and low carbon resource-efficient economy. KETs are regarded as crucial for ensuring the competitiveness of
European industries in the knowledge economy.
A serious threat to the capitalization of the innovative and economic potential of Nanotechnology is
the limited understanding of the environmental, health and safety (EHS) aspects of nanomaterials
(NMs); often labelled nanoEHS. This limited understanding leads to uncertainty on how to judge
the EHS aspects of these materials in a regulatory context. This has a negative impact on the investment climate and on societal appreciation of products containing NMs.
The NANoREG project aims to eliminate part of these uncertainties by:
1. Identifying what nanoEHS aspects are relevant from a regulatory point of view (“questions and
needs of regulators”).
2. Identifying what the gaps in our knowledge are: what aspects are sufficiently covered by existing knowledge; what aspects need further research.
3. Carrying out the research to fill in the gaps.
4. Developing a NANoREG framework and toolbox for testing the EHS aspects and for the assessment and management of the risks. This includes proposed forward looking strategies
such as safe-by-design to prioritize those nanomaterial applications that may lead to high exposure or high toxic potential and ultimately high risks for human health.
5. Creating support for the results of the project in order to contribute to a quick and broad implementation of the results.