Joint Nanotechnology Project with ECOS and Öko Institut

– In collaboration with the European Citizen’s Organization for Standardization and the Öko-Institut –

As the pace of nanotechnology development increases, it is crucial to ensure that these technologies bring about true societal and environmental benefits, with limited risks to human health and the environment.

CIEL and ECOS (the European Citizen’s Organization for Standardization) have completed a three year project with the support of the Villum fonden, aiming to support the public interest in relation to nanomaterial development. The ultimate objective of the project was to ensure that risk assessment methodologies and risk management tools guide regulators towards the adoption of a precaution-based regulatory framework for the responsible development of nanomaterials in the EU and beyond.

Together with our project partner the German Öko-Institut, CIEL and ECOS participated in the work of the standardization organizations Comité Européen de Normalisation and International Standards Organization (ISO), and the work of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) related to health, environmental and safety aspects of nanomaterials, as well as exposure and risk assessment.

The project team also produced a number of fact sheets to provide background information on a number of relevant topics for discussing the governance and regulation of nanotechnology (such as nano definition, regulatory risks assessment, toxicity of nanomaterials, etc). The project team also produced position papers, policy recommendations, and a declaration on waste containing nanomaterials to guide public discussions on these topics. It also commissioned an in-depth study of the data produced by the Sponsorship Programme of the Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials of the OECD.

All outputs from the project can be accessed below in several languages.

Last updated February 2017