In each meeting of the Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN),
the delegations have an opportunity to provide their developments on the safety
of manufactured nanomaterials, so called “Tour de Table.” An earlier version of
this document was originally provided to the 7th meeting held 7-9 July 2010 in
Paris, France. This document compiles information provided by member countries
and other delegations on current developments on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials
(section I) in their countries or organisations. There are also written reports
on current activities related to nanotechnologies/ nanomaterials in other
International Organisations including the International Organisation for
Standardisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
and the World Health Organisation (section II).
The Working Party endorsed this document at its 8th Meeting in March 2011.
It is intended to provide information on the outcomes and developments of the
WPMN related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials.
This is intended to provide delegations and other stakeholders with a
“snapshot” of information on activities related to manufactured nanomaterials,
as well as other activities on nanotechnologies, at the national and
international level.
The purpose of the Tour de Table is to give each delegation the opportunity
to describe recent or planned national initiatives and/or events related to the
safety of nanomaterials. This facilitates the implementation of the projects of
the WPMN by allowing delegations to share their experiences and preoccupations
with respect to safety, and identifies opportunities for future co-operation
and co-ordination.
In considering the Tour de Table, each delegation was invited to prepare a
short written paper. It was recommended that the information in these papers be
organised, where possible, under the headings identified below, while
recognising that not all delegations would be able to supply information under
each heading.
1) Firstly, please provide a list of the latest developments in your
country and organisation since the 7th meeting of the WPMN (July 2010) as
highlights to appear at the top of your document.
2) Secondly, please identify work completed, underway or planned in your
country or organisation, which relates to activities on health and
environmental safety aspects of manufactured nanomaterials (focusing on the
chemicals sector).
1. Any national regulatory developments on human health and environmental safety
including recommendations or discussions related to adapting existing
regulatory systems or the drafting of laws/ regulations/ guidance materials;
2. Developments related to voluntary or stewardship schemes;
3. Information on any risk assessment decisions;
4. Information on any developments related to good practice documents;
5. Information on any developments related to Integrated Testing Strategies
and/or Alternative test methods;
6. Research programmes or strategies designed to address human health and/
or environmental safety aspects of nanomaterials;
7. Information on any public/ stakeholder consultation;
8. Information on research programmes or strategies which focus on life
cycle aspects ofnanomaterials, as well as positive and negative impacts on
environment and health of certain nanoenabled applications.
9. Additional Information