Instruments for the evaluation of the sustainability of nanomaterials life cycle
Simona SCALBI (ENEA)
Number of industries, applying nanotechnologies in several markets has been increasing. Indeed nanomaterials have a broad range of applications, often with innovative functions that cover new production sectors.
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) WPMN (Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials ) launched a strategic program on the safety evaluation and risk assessment of manufactured nanomaterials that include definition of standard test for toxicity of nanomaterials in the environment, application of Risk Assessment (RA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the evaluation of nanomaterials impacts. The preliminary results of these activities show that it is important establishing linkages between LCA and RA to assess the sustainability of nanomaterials nanotechnologies. Moreover another important project on these issues was NANoREG. It is the first FP7 project to deliver the answers needed by regulators and legislators on environment, health and safety by linking them to a scientific evaluation of data and test methods.
Furthermore a case study on environmental sustainability assessment of QDsLED with LCAt was presented with the aims to identify the potential ecological issues, to provide a precise analytical evaluation of environmental cost/benefit ratio and to support a “low impact” design of the systems. The results of the LCA study allow the comparison of the environmental performance of this system with other traditional products for light production and permit to suggest Eco design criteria; showing the importance to assess the potential environmental impacts for the emerging nanomaterials and nanoproducts to avoid undesirable effects on environment and human health.
