Introduction - Research Progress on Environmental Health and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials - page 2

STUDY SCOPE
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested that the National Research Council
perform an independent study to develop and monitor the implementation of an integrated strategy for
research on EHS aspects of ENMs (see Appendix B for complete statement of task). In response to EPA's
request, the National Research Council convened the Committee to Develop a Research Strategy for
Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials in 2009. In its first report, as
requested, the committee created a conceptual framework for EHS-related research, developed a research
plan with short-term and long-term priorities, and estimated resources needed to implement the research
plan. For this second report, the committee was tasked with evaluating research progress and updating the
research priorities and resource estimates on the basis of results of studies and emerging trends in the
nanotechnology industry. Specifically, the committee was asked to address the following:
 What research progress has been made in understanding the environmental, health, and safety
aspects of nanotechnology? How does the research progress affect relevance of the initial set of research
priorities?
 How have market and regulatory conditions changed and how does this affect the research
priorities?
 Are the criteria for evaluating the research progress on the environmental, health, and safety
aspects of nanotechnology appropriate?
 Considering the criteria developed, to what extent have short-term and long-term research
priorities been initiated and implemented?
OVERVIEW OF FIRST REPORT
The committee's first report, A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects
of Engineered Nanomaterials (NRC 2012), presented a strategic approach for developing the science and
research infrastructure needed to address uncertainties regarding the potential EHS risks posed by ENMs.
The report began by detailing why a research strategy is needed. In describing the rationale for the report,
the committee emphasized the complexity of the issues (including the variety of the materials and the
applications of materials science), the limitations of the available evidence, and the inadequacy of
linkages between current research findings and the evidence needed to prevent and manage potential EHS
risks. The committee recognized that there had already been considerable effort in the United States and
abroad to identify research needs to support the development and safe use of nanotechnology, especially
in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Nevertheless, EPA sought to refine existing approaches
further.
The first report described a conceptual framework that structured the committee's approach,
focusing on emerging ENMs that may pose unanticipated risks and on the influence of properties of
ENMs on hazards and exposures (Figure 1-1). The committee then identified critical research gaps that
reflected elements of the framework and the tools needed for addressing the gaps. In addition to the
conceptual framework and the gaps and tools, the committee identified four broad high-priority research
topics that formed the backbone of its proposed research strategy. The committee recognized the evolving
nature of ENM research and, in selecting the four broad categories, envisioned a risk-based system that
would be informed and shaped by research outcomes and would support approaches to environmental and
human-health protection.
The research categories were the following (NRC 2012, pp. 14-15):