Nanomaterials are developed and used in a wide variety of applications including consumer products because they have new specific properties that can improve the functionality of the product. There are already several consumer products containing nanomaterials on the Dutch, European and global market despite the lack of extensive knowledge on the health risks of the use of nanomaterials. In order to gather more insight in the possible exposure of consumers to nanomaterials in consumer products, several product inventories of nano-consumer products have been made in the past. However, crucial information for exposure assessment is missing in these inventories. The RIVM study aimed to fill a knowledge gap concerning the use of nanomaterials in products today and in the coming five years.

From a set of market reports describing global market values for the various consumer products containing nanomaterials, RIVM ranked various nanomaterials used in consumer products based on relative presence on the global nanomarket, at present and in the near future (2010-2015). Although more specific information is provided in these reports, information is still missing for a detailed exposure assessment. Therefore, a panel of RIVM nano- and exposure experts were consulted to identify and estimate the most relevant exposure characteristics within the different product categories. These expert estimations were combined with the ranking of nanomaterials in consumer products based on market value in order to identify product categories with a high priority for future exposure studies.

After combination of the three different approaches, product groups with high priority for future exposure studies were identified. Sun cosmetics, DIY coatings and adhesives appeared to be important in all three analyses. Personal care products and cleaning products were judged important in the product inventories and in the expert consultation (for the subcategory sun cosmetics within the category personal care products UV blockers were also ranked high in the market analysis). With respect to the near future, the same product categories are expected to stay important.

The RIVM report concludes by highlighting that, in order to determine the health risks of consumer product containing nanomaterials, not only the (external) exposure needs to be estimated, but data on the internal exposure, kinetics and toxicity of the nanomaterials also needs to be determined in order to perform a robust risk assessment.

Click here to read the RIVM report in full.

Source: RIVM