OECD Publishes Report on Important Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a February 2022 report entitled Important Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials. The report provides the current practices, challenges, and strategies for assessing the risk of manufactured nanomaterials in circumstances where data are limited, and the report states that there is a necessity for more research on specific risk assessment issues. As such, the report presents an overview of the chemical risk assessment paradigm and describes how various member countries have adapted existing regulatory frameworks to the assessment of nanomaterials. It also presents the state of science on nanomaterials risk assessment as of May 2021 and highlights priorities for research toward specific risk assessment issues. OECD notes that the report is a living document. As such, the report “remains subject to refinement as research affords further understanding of how to assess and manage nanomaterials.” The report “is not to be construed to imply scientific and/or policy endorsement of any specific risk assessment methods or models.”