AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Research Progress on Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials
PHILIP K. HOPKE, Clarkson University
Abstract Number: 716 Working Group: Engineered Nanoparticles: Emissions, Transformation and Exposure
Abstract National Research Council Committee to Develop a Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials (ENMs)
Over the last decade, government agencies, academic institutions, industry, and others have conducted many assessments of the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) of nanotechnology. The results of those efforts have helped to direct research on the EHS aspects of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). However, in spite of the progress in assessing research needs and in spite of the research that has been funded and conducted, developers, regulators, and consumers of nanotechnology-enabled products remain uncertain about the types and quantities of nanomaterials in commerce or in development, their possible applications, and their associated risks. To address those uncertainties, the Environmental Protection Agency asked the National Research Council to perform an independent study to develop and monitor the implementation of an integrated research strategy to address the EHS aspects of ENMs. Initially, the Committee developed a conceptual framework for a research strategy and identified critical research gaps and tools needed to address them. The committee identified high-priority research that needed to be undertaken in the short and long term and resources needed. In the second, recently released report, the committee has evaluated the EHS research progress and assessed the current state of research to provide the data that are critically needed to determine the risk from the production and use of engineered nanomaterials.