This year’s edition of the ImagineNano event saw NANORIGO partner GAIKER showcase the Horizon 2020 project to an audience of 310 visitors from 24 countries. GAIKER, as a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), organised a large booth within the BRTA exhibition area, where NANORIGO partner Alberto Katsumiti engaged with numerous visitors and presented NANORIGO’s mission, aims, and current activities.
This edition was the 6th ImagineNano event, marked as one of the largest European Events in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology. The event took place at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) from November 23-25, 2021. Following the overwhelming success of past ImagineNano editions, several conferences will be held in parallel, as well as a vast exhibition area offering free entrance to professionals, one-to-one meetings, and an industrial forum where everyone could meet-and-greet actors from Nanotechnology.
An unprecedented collaborative effort of members of the three projects is culminating in the final stages of production of the Blueprint for the Nanotechnology Risk Governance Council.
This Blueprint is a planning document that presents a possible design and role for a new organisation that would be tasked with governing risks from nano-based products, a Nanotechnology Risk Governance Council (NRGC). It has been developed in a co-creation approach with key stakeholders and represents the current view of how such a council could be organised.
What can be the added value of a Nanotechnology Risk Governance Council (NRGC)? What challenges and opportunities should it address? What should its mission be and what goals should it pursue? What activities should it conduct, and how should the Council be organised? The answers to these questions form the building blocks of this document, which describes the goals that the Council could aim at, and why, and the activities and services it could offer.
Its main purpose is to provide a framework to test elements of the council design and further engage with key stakeholders in regulation, industry, and NGOs to collect their feedback as possible members of the NRGC. This process will be used to refine the design of the NRGC prior to a possible launch in 2022.
The projects are now moving to (a) testing it, (b) refining it, (c) identifying possible members, (d) establishing conditions for its sustainability, (e) launching it, and, finally, (f) accompanying it through the first months of activities.
Any representative from regulation, industry, and NGOs who are interested in contributing to the NRGC is invited to contact us and join the stakeholder database here, indicating specific interest in the NRGC.
Acknowledgments:
Marie-Valentine Florin
Authors: NMBP-13 Council Task Force: Rob Aitken, Dalila Antunes, Arto Säämänen, Marie-Valentine Florin, Monique Groenewold, Panagiotis Isigonis, Andrea Porcari, Janeck Scott-Fordsmand, Tommaso Serchi.
Adapting the International Risk Governance Center Approach
It has been widely acknowledged that the risk governance of nanotechnology should be based on a clear understanding of risk, its management practices, and the societal risk perception by all stakeholders. The Risk Governance Framework of the International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) describes processes aiming to provide and structure scientific evidence about risk in a societal context.
The NANORIGO, RiskGONE, and GOV4NANO projects consider this framework along with the ISO 21505 and ISO 31000 standards modified in caLIBRAte to fit nanotechnology, its products, and contiguous frameworks.
The NRGF provides guidance for early identification, assessment, management, and communication of risks, involving multiple stakeholders, considering the social impacts of the various uses of nanoproducts, and coupling risk-benefit assessment.
It integrates selected methods, tools, and best practices that can improve or complement existing practices for safety and risk management.
Stakeholder needs, as continuously identified, are incorporated in the NRGF to enable tailored development for multiple stakeholder groups. The NRGF comprises interlinked steps and cross-cutting core functions and serves as the integrator of important concepts and principles, tools, and illustrations. The framework will provide web-based solutions that include the use of FAIR data to facilitate its interactive and flexible use.
Acknowledgments:
Arto Säämänena, Marie-Valentine Florinb, Francisco Huertasc, Arantxa Ballesterosc, Piet Sellked, Anna-Kaisa Viitanena, Panagiotis Isigonise, Nils Bohmerf, Dalila Antunesg, Keld Alstrup Jensenh , aFinnish Institute of Occupational Health, Tampere, Finland, bEPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, cITENE, Paterna, Spain, dDIALOGIK, Stuttgart, Germany, eUniversità Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Italy, fDechema, Frankfurt, Germany, gFactorSocial, Lisbon, Portugal, hNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark
This year the Venice Nanosafety Training School celebrated its 10th anniversary in a one-of-a-kind, large-scale event organised by the NMBP-13 projects in collaboration with four other EC-funded H2020 projects: Biorima, Gracious, NanoInformaTIX, and PATROLS.
The event, which took place from June 21st –25th, featured keynote speeches, and a variety of hands-on sessions aimed to transfer state-of-the-art knowledge on a range of topics from key experts to the new generation of nano-environmental, health and safety, and biomedicine professionals, using interprofessional education. Finally, networking activities allowed for plenty of time and opportunities to expand networks and foster academic exchange.
Risk Governance—Session 8
Partners from the 3 NMBP-13 projects built a multi-focused Risk Governance session on the question “Risk assessment with a social dimension: how does risk governance differ from risk assessment or management?”
Starting with an introduction to the process of risk governance, discussions examined how data support decision-making, what data are needed, and what researchers can do in order to provide such data. This also covered FAIR databases and quality assurance, defined by the Knowledge Readiness Level (KaRL).
The session culminated by exploring different stakeholder views, focusing on the specific case of Titanium Dioxide E171 safety, and how socioeconomic aspects can be included in the risk governance process to warrant inclusiveness for different values into the risk/benefit estimation.
How do you feel about nanotechnology? How much do you know about nanoproducts?
We aim to understand people’s attitudes towards nanotechnology and nanoproducts and their risks in this survey developed by the three NMBP-13 projects, Gov4Nano, NANORIGO, and RiskGONE.
The answers provided in this survey are completely anonymous and will only be used for the purpose described above. The survey is available in 12 European languages.
Feel free to share it with your contacts and friends!
Children’s Privilege in COVID-19: The Protective Role of the Juvenile Lung Morphometry and Ventilatory Pattern on Airborne SARS-CoV-2 Transmission to Respiratory Epithelial Barriers and Disease Severity
NANORIGO partner Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) is proud to announce the publication of a second study concerning COVID-19. Here they investigated SARS-CoV-2 virion inoculation in the lung of different age groups, using juvenile lung morphometry data of children between the age of three years and eight years. The SARS-CoV-2 inoculation potential of both age groups was compared with a young adult. Evidence was found that children are intrinsically protected to SARS-CoV-2 transmission by virion-laden aerosols when compared to the young adult, an important finding in the context of the ongoing politically laden discussion of children’s role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in kindergartens and primary schools.
In this study methods and tools for Nano Risk Governance were applied. These form part of NANORIGO’s tool collection, hence repurposing NANORIGO Risk Governance Tools (MPPD) in the context of the emerging public health thread COVID-19.
This work was supported by the Allergy-Cancer-BioNano (ACBN) Research Center of the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) and in parts by the EU H2020 projects NanoRigo and NanoCommons (grant numbers 814530 and 731032, respectively).
After previous reports on baby cosmetics and sunscreens for children, Wecf France today reveals the results of a survey of cosmetic products. We made an expert study of the labels 47 make-up products: 17 BB creams, 15 concealers and 15 mascaras, whose use has not decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many women use make-up products and cosmetics daily, including during or when envisaging pregnancy. They are part of everyday consumer products which may contribute to the exposure of pregnant women and the unborn child to chemicals of concern for human health, such as potential endocrine disruptors.
Our survey
In May 2021, we selected and purchased 47 cosmetic products, sold in supermarkets, perfume stores, drug stores, and organic shops. We screened the lists of ingredients on the packaging or available online, to list and identify ingredients of concern based on the most recent scientific literature: endocrine disruptors, nanoparticles, allergens, substances hazardous for ecosystems, etc.
Main results of our survey
We identified 37 substances of concern in the 47 products of our survey. Among these 37 substances, we classified 13 as very high concern (RED), 9 as of high concern (ORANGE) and 15 as of moderate concern (YELLOW). 7 are endocrine disruptors of very high concern.
BB creams are the product category containing the highest number of substances of concern. Of the 17 BB creams of our survey, 10 contain at least 4 substances of very high concern. 3 BB creams contain a minimum of 12 substances of concern.
3 of the 15 concealers of our survey contain at least 4 substances of very high concern.
Mascaras are the category with the lowest number of substances of concern: none contains more than 3 substances of very high concern.
11 products of our survey contain no plastic ingredients, 8 of them are organic products.
Cosmetic products with organic labels are globally of better quality, with the main concerns being the use of titanium dioxide (in BB creams) and fragrance allergens of moderate concern.
Our main demands
Ban ingredients which we classified of very high concern from cosmetics, including the endocrine disruptors benzyl salicylate, BHT, butylphenyl methylpropional, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylparaben, methylparaben and octocrylene.
Establish a pictogram, similar to the one displayed on alcohol, to warn pregnant women of the presence in cosmetics of ingredients suspected of being of concern for human health, in particular endocrine disruptors.
Strengthen research work of the French risk assessment agencies ANSM and ANSES to identify the risks linked to the use of cosmetics containing ingredients of concern, especially for pregnant women.
Ensure that all ingredients listed on cosmetic products are readable and understandable for consumers.
As tecnologias e os materiais emergentes colocam múltiplos desafios: podem surgir novas questões ambientais, de saúde pública e de segurança com o desenvolvimento de nanomateriais. O que está a ser feito para criar quadros mais transparentes para o desenvolvimento, aplicação e eliminação de nanomateriais fabricados?
Três projetos “irmãos” financiados pela Comissão Europeia, RiskGONE, Gov4Nano e Nanorigo, estão a centrar-se nestas questões, e promovem este workshop, que é dirigido a públicos com curiosidade e interesse em nanotecnologias e nanomateriais, para discutir como é que podemos melhor governar a sua produção e utilização.
Não perca este encontro, independentemente do que já sabe sobre nanotecnologias e mecanismos de regulação internacional, para aprender sobre a governação dos nanomateriais e partilhar connosco o seu ponto de vista!
O workshop de cerca de 90 minutos será realizado online e com a participação de especialistas da nanotecnologia envolvidos nestes três projetos. Abordaremos um modelo potencial para um Conselho de Governação de Risco e a forma de implementá-lo e tentaremos obter algum feedback dos participantes.
Veja aqui o nosso teaser!
Agenda (WEST)
16:30 – 16:35: Boas vindas e apresentação de oradores
16:35 – 17.00: Vídeo e breve introdução aos projetos NMBP-13
17:00 – 17:35: Oradores convidados:
Dalila Antunes (Factor Social) – Cenários para um Conselho de Governação de Riscos dos Nanomateriais
Maria João Silva (INSA – Ministério da Saúde) – Avaliação do risco para a saúde e sua relevância e integração nas políticas e regulamentação dos nanomateriais/nanotecnologia.
17:35 – 17:55: Discussão e Q&A
17:55 – 18:00: Encerramento
Idioma: Português
Anfitriões e co-facilitadores: Quercus; Factor Social; SPI – Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação
Emerging technologies and materials pose multiple challenges: unforeseen environmental, public health and security questions may arise with the development of nanomaterials. Do you wonder what is being done to create more transparent frameworks for the development, application and disposal of engineered nanomaterials?
Three sister projects funded by the European Commission, RiskGONE, Gov4Nano and Nanorigo, are focusing on these issues. Co-facilitated by these projects, this workshop will engage with audiences that harbour curiosity and interest in nanotech and nanomaterials to discuss how we can better govern their production and usage.
Don’t miss our workshop, regardless of how much you know about nanotech and international regulation mechanisms, to learn about nanomaterials’ governance and share with us your point of view!
The 90 minutes workshop will be held online and with the participation of experts from nanotechnology implementing these three projects. We will address a potential model for a Risk Governance Council and try to grasp your feedback on a framework to implement it.
See our teaser video here!
Agenda (WEST)
16:30 – 16:35: Welcome and presentation of speakers
16:35 – 17.00: Video and a short introduction to NNMBP-13 projects
17:00 – 17:35: Guest speakers:
Dalila Antunes (Factor Social) – Scenarios for a Risk Governance Council on Nanomaterials
Maria João Silva (INSA – Ministério da Saúde) – Risk Assessment in Health context and its importance regarding policies and regulations on nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
17:35 – 17:55: Open discussion and Q&A
17:55 – 18:00: Closing
Mode of communication: Portuguese
Hosts and co-facilitators: Quercus; Factor Social; SPI – Portuguese Society of Innovation
On 27 November 2020, researchers across Europe will meet the public (mostly online) and showcase their work through hands-on experiments, science shows, games, quizzes, competitions, exhibitions, and digital activities. It’s the European Researchers’ Night!
RiskGONE partners are participating in some of these important events, aimed to shorten the gap between research and the general public by raising awareness on how different kinds of nanomaterials are used in daily applications and how we can manage the risks that some of them pose to the environment and human health.
27.11.2020
Dechema LIVE Session 1 (13:00-14:00 CET)
Dechema LIVE Session 2 (18:00-19:00 CET)
Find the aganda and links: https://riskgone.eu/category/european-researchers-night-activities/
Was ist Nanotechnologie und wo wird sie eingesetzt? Wer entscheidet, ob die Produkte sicher sind?
Nanotechnologie ermöglicht neue Produkteigenschaften und bringt neuartige Anwendungen mit sich. Verbraucher*innen finden vermehrt Nanotechnologie in unterschiedlichen Produkten wie z.B. Kosmetika oder Elektronik. Doch wie sicher sind die Produkte für Mensch und Umwelt, und wer entscheidet das? Wieviel Risiko nehmen wir in Kauf, wenn es um neue, innovative Produkte geht? Wie findet man sich zurecht im Informationsdschungel im digitalen Zeitalter? Diese Fragen erforscht das europäische Projekt “Gov4Nano”. Tauschen Sie sich mit uns aus!
Veranstaltungsformat: Workshop (teilweise in in englischer Sprache)
27.11.2020
15:30 – 17:00 Uhr
Besonders geeignet für: Jugendliche
Link: https://bit.ly/33Apv2L
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