REACH-NanoHazEx is a 12-16 month project led by SAFENANO at the Institute of Occupational Medicine (UK). The Consultancy Project is funded by the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission’s Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC).
The consortium is a partnership between SAFENANO, the Nanotechnology Industries Association & Cefic, and Soluzioni Informatiche, and brings together internationally renowned experts from disciplines including physical sciences, life sciences, occupational hygiene, and risk assessment.
REACH-NanoHazEx concerns exposure assessment and hazard/risk characterisation for nanomaterials within REACH.
The objectives of this project are to:
• Develop advice on how to do exposure assessment for nanomaterials within the REACH context. This shall be the main focus of project and shall cover:
- development of Exposure Scenarios,
- evaluation of operational conditions and risk management/mitigation measures and
- exposure estimation;
• Develop ideas for how to conduct hazard and risk characterisation for nanomaterials. The latter will involve threshold/non-threshold considerations.
The project includes additional objectives in relation to identified sub-tasks. These include:
• Identification and review of information sources
• conduction of case studies for developing exposure scenarios for different nanomaterials;
• production of an advisory report on the exposure assessment of nanomaterials in the REACH context.
• analysis of existing evidence related to setting limit values for nanomaterials;
• identification of critical items for dose description;
• conduction of 3-4 case studies on whether and how no-effect-levels for health and the environment could be established;
• development of recommendations on the feasibility of whether categorisation of nanomaterials (e.g. different types of carbon nanotubes) and/or 'case-by-case' approaches will be needed and practical advice on how to do this on the basis of existing scientific evidence; and
• production of an advisory report on hazard/risk characterisation of nanomaterials in the REACH context.
• development of a working document outlining needs and options for metrics/parameters (mass, number concentration, surface area, particle size(s) etc.) in the hazard assessment compatible with the exposure assessment parameters/metrics in order to prepare a meaningful risk characterization.