LICARA nanoSCAN - A tool for the self-assessment of benefits and risks of nanoproducts |
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| Affiliation: | 1. TNO, Climate, Air and Sustainability, P.O. Box 80015, NL-3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands;2. TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands;3. Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland;4. US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 696 Virginia Rd., Concord, MA 01742, USA;5. Informatics and Sustainability Research Group, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland;6. University of the Witwatersrand, School of Public Health, 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 Johannesburg, South Africa;7. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA;1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca'' Foscari, Venice, Italy;2. GreenDecision S.r.l., Venice, Italy;3. BASF SE, Dept. Material Physics, Ludwigshafen, Germany;4. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark;5. Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), The Hague, Netherlands;6. Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK;1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark;2. Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden;1. DTU Environment, Technical University of Denmark, Building 113, Kgs. Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark;2. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark |
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| Abstract: | The fast penetration of nanoproducts on the market under conditions of significant uncertainty of their environmental properties and risks to humans creates a need for companies to assess sustainability of their products. Evaluation of the potential benefits and risks to build a coherent story for communication with clients, authorities, consumers, and other stakeholders is getting to be increasingly important, but SMEs often lack the knowledge and expertise to assess risks and communicate them appropriately. This paper introduces LICARA nanoSCAN, a modular web based tool that supports SMEs in assessing benefits and risks associated with new or existing nanoproducts. This tool is unique because it is scanning both the benefits and risks over the nanoproducts life cycle in comparison to a reference product with a similar functionality in order to enable the development of sustainable and competitive nanoproducts. SMEs can use data and expert judgment to answer mainly qualitative and semi-quantitative questions as a part of tool application. Risks to public, workers and consumers are assessed, while the benefits are evaluated for economic, environmental and societal opportunities associated with the product use. The tool provides an easy way to visualize results as well as to identify gaps, missing data and associated uncertainties. The LICARA nanoSCAN has been positively evaluated by several companies and was tested in a number of case studies. The tool helps to develop a consistent and comprehensive argument on the weaknesses and strengths of a nanoproduct that may be valuable for the communication with authorities, clients and among stakeholders in the value chain. LICARA nanoSCAN identifies areas for more detailed assessments, product design improvement or application of risk mitigation measures. |
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