Worldwide Trend in Nanomaterial Safety Evaluation

Abstract

Manufactured Nanomaterials （ MNs ） are excellent industrial materials that are not only widely used in the manufacture of displays, Micro Electro Mechanical Systems （ MEMS ） , composite materials, energy cells, fibers, actuators and heat-exchangers, but also in cosmetics, medical equipment and pharmaceutical products. Accordingly, the concerned regulating authorities are those involved in the control of chemicals for industrial use, drugs, food, the environment, scientific technology, as well as communications, etc. As of August 2012, however, no specific laws that regulate the safety evaluation of MNs exist. Each of the major MN producers, such as EU, the United States, and Japan, is separately going through the process of discussing the methodology of systematically evaluating and regulating MNs. The MN producers have started to organize independent consortiums or working groups to discuss the safety assessments of the products. In this context, we investigated the activities towards the setting of regulations in each country, and clarified the differences between their directions. We also introduce reference materials that have been published as a general scheme for safety evaluation.