Setting the stage for debating the roles of risk assessment and life-cycle assessment of engineered nanomaterials.
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Open Access
Type
Article
Language
en
Date
2017-08-04
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Title
Setting the stage for debating the roles of risk assessment and life-cycle assessment of engineered nanomaterials.
Translated Title
Published in
Nature Nanotechnol 2017, 12(8):727-33
Abstract
Although technological and environmental benefits are important stimuli for nanotechnology development, these technologies have been contested from an environmental point of view. The steady growth of applications of engineered nanomaterials has heated up the debate on quantifying the environmental repercussions. The two main scientific methods to address these environmental repercussions are risk assessment and life-cycle assessment. The strengths and weaknesses of each of these methods, and the relation between them, have been a topic of debate in the world of traditional chemistry for over two decades. Here we review recent developments in this debate in general and for the emerging field of nanomaterials specifically. We discuss the pros and cons of four schools of thought for combining and integrating risk assessment and life-cycle assessment and conclude with a plea for action.