Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Technology and Society Laboratory, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Toxicology. 2010 Mar 10;269(2-3):160-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2009.12.012. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Whilst the global players in industry are rapidly moving forward to take advantage of the new opportunities and prospects offered by nanotechnologies, it is imperative that such developments take place in a safe and sustainable manner. The increasing use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in consumer products has raised certain concerns over their safety to human health and the environment. There are currently a number of major uncertainties and knowledge gaps in regard to behavior, chemical and biological interactions and toxicological properties of ENMs. As dealing with these uncertainties will require the generation of new basic knowledge, it is unlikely that they will be resolved in the immediate future. One has to consider the whole life cycle of nanoproducts to ensure that possible impacts can be systematically discovered. For example, life cycle assessment (LCA) - a formalized life cycle concept - may be used to assess the relative environmental sustainability performance of nanoproducts in comparison with their conventional equivalents. Other less formalized life cycle concepts in the framework of prospective technology assessment may uncover further detailed and prospective knowledge for human and environmental exposure to ENMs during the life cycle of nanoproducts. They systematically reveal impacts such as cross product contamination or dissipation of scarce materials among others. The combination of different life cycle concepts with the evolving knowledge from toxicology and risk assessment can mitigate uncertainties and can provide an early basis for informed decision making by the industry and regulators.
虽然工业界的全球参与者正在迅速采取行动，以利用纳米技术带来的新机会和前景，但必须以安全和可持续的方式进行此类开发。工程纳米材料（ENM）在消费产品中的日益使用引起了人们对其对人类健康和环境安全性的某些关注。目前，关于 ENM 的行为、化学和生物相互作用以及毒理学特性存在许多重大不确定性和知识差距。由于处理这些不确定性需要产生新的基础知识，因此不太可能在不久的将来解决这些问题。人们必须考虑纳米产品的整个生命周期，以确保可以系统地发现可能的影响。例如，可以使用生命周期评估（LCA）——一种形式化的生命周期概念——来评估纳米产品相对于其传统等效产品的相对环境可持续性性能。在前瞻性技术评估框架内的其他不太正式的生命周期概念可能会在纳米产品生命周期中发现人类和环境接触 ENM 的进一步详细和前瞻性知识。它们系统地揭示了交叉产品污染或稀缺材料耗散等影响。不同生命周期概念与毒理学和风险评估不断发展的知识相结合，可以减轻不确定性，并为行业和监管机构提供知情决策的早期基础。
