Environmental impacts of nanomaterials: providing comprehensive information on exposure, transport and ecotoxicity - the project DaNa2.0

Abstract

Abstract Background Assessing the impact of new technologies or newly developed substances on our environment is a challenge, even more so if the applied test methods - both toxicological and analytical - are often found to be inadequate and need amendments or even new developments as it is in the case of nanotechnology. This is illustrated by numerous publications in the field of nano-ecotoxicology which although they have been investigating the impact of a number of nanomaterials on several organisms almost never allow for explicit statements on potential hazards of these nanomaterials. This fact not only hampers the knowledge communication to all non-scientists (e.g. consumers) but it also complicates the transfer of the obtained results for other scientists. Results Risk communication is an essential and thus integral part of risk management. For this purpose, the project DaNa2.0 (Data and knowledge on nanomaterials - processing of socially relevant scientific facts) provides processed and hence easy accessible information on the potential safety issues of nanomaterials, mainly via the project website http://www.nanoobjects.info. This will allow various stakeholder groups to get impartial information on potential effects of nanomaterials and help consumers to make informed decisions. DaNa2.0 is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and supported by the Swiss government as well as by the European InterReg IVb programme. The DaNa2.0 team is an interdisciplinary group of scientists from different areas such as materials science, chemistry, biology and human and environmental toxicology. Extending the project team in DaNa2.0 with European experts allows for broadening of the existing knowledge portfolio by adding further cross-cutting topics and increasing our expertise, e.g. in the field of environmental exposure and fate. Conclusions On the project website http://www.nanoobjects.info, a unique link between nanomaterials in practical applications (e.g. environmental remediation) and their potential impacts is provided. The focus of this publication will be on all issues with environmental relevance, which are addressed in the ‘Knowledge Base Nanomaterials’ on the project website. These issues include environmental exposure and behaviour of nanomaterials and nano-ecotoxicology.