Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) raise questions among the scientific community and public health authorities about their potential risks to human health. Studying a prospective cohort of workers exposed to ENMs would be considered the gold standard for identifying potential health effects of nanotec...

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Main Authors: Schulte, Paul A, Riediker, Michael, Fatkhutdinova, Liliya, Bergamaschi, Enrico, Canu, Irina Guseva
Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105456
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/48686
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1054562023-07-14T15:54:47Z Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health Schulte, Paul A Riediker, Michael Fatkhutdinova, Liliya Bergamaschi, Enrico Canu, Irina Guseva School of Materials Science & Engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Materials Assessment Nanotechnology Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) raise questions among the scientific community and public health authorities about their potential risks to human health. Studying a prospective cohort of workers exposed to ENMs would be considered the gold standard for identifying potential health effects of nanotechnology and confirming the ‘no effect’ levels derived from cellular and animal models. However, because only small, cross-sectional studies have been conducted in the past 5 years, questions remain about the health risks of ENMs. This essay addresses the scientific, methodological, political and regulatory issues that make epidemiological research in nanotechnology-exposed communities particularly complex. Scientific challenges include the array of physicochemical parameters and ENM production conditions, the lack of universally accepted definitions of ENMs and nanotechnology workers, and the lack of information about modes of action, target organs and likely dose–response functions of ENMs. Standardisation of data collection and harmonisation of research protocols are needed to eliminate misclassification of exposures and health effects. Forming ENM worker cohorts from a combination of smaller cohorts and overcoming selection bias are also challenges. National or international registries for monitoring the exposures and health of ENM workers would be helpful for epidemiological studies, but the creation of such a registry and ENM worker cohorts will require political support and dedicated funding at the national and international levels. Public authorities and health agencies should consider carrying out an ENM awareness campaign to educate and engage all stakeholders and concerned communities in discussion of such a project. Accepted version 2019-06-12T08:16:49Z 2019-12-06T21:51:40Z 2019-06-12T08:16:49Z 2019-12-06T21:51:40Z 2017 Journal Article Canu, I. G., Schulte, P. A., Riediker, M., Fatkhutdinova, L., & Bergamaschi, E. (2018). Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(2), 148-153. doi:10.1136/jech-2016-208668 0143-005X https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105456 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/48686 10.1136/jech-2016-208668 en Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health © 2018 The Author(s). All rights reserved. This paper was published by BMJ Publishing Group in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and is made available with permission of The Author(s). 14 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
Assessment
Nanotechnology
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
Assessment
Nanotechnology
Schulte, Paul A
Riediker, Michael
Fatkhutdinova, Liliya
Bergamaschi, Enrico
Canu, Irina Guseva
Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
description Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) raise questions among the scientific community and public health authorities about their potential risks to human health. Studying a prospective cohort of workers exposed to ENMs would be considered the gold standard for identifying potential health effects of nanotechnology and confirming the ‘no effect’ levels derived from cellular and animal models. However, because only small, cross-sectional studies have been conducted in the past 5 years, questions remain about the health risks of ENMs. This essay addresses the scientific, methodological, political and regulatory issues that make epidemiological research in nanotechnology-exposed communities particularly complex. Scientific challenges include the array of physicochemical parameters and ENM production conditions, the lack of universally accepted definitions of ENMs and nanotechnology workers, and the lack of information about modes of action, target organs and likely dose–response functions of ENMs. Standardisation of data collection and harmonisation of research protocols are needed to eliminate misclassification of exposures and health effects. Forming ENM worker cohorts from a combination of smaller cohorts and overcoming selection bias are also challenges. National or international registries for monitoring the exposures and health of ENM workers would be helpful for epidemiological studies, but the creation of such a registry and ENM worker cohorts will require political support and dedicated funding at the national and international levels. Public authorities and health agencies should consider carrying out an ENM awareness campaign to educate and engage all stakeholders and concerned communities in discussion of such a project.
author2 School of Materials Science & Engineering
author_facet School of Materials Science & Engineering
Schulte, Paul A
Riediker, Michael
Fatkhutdinova, Liliya
Bergamaschi, Enrico
Canu, Irina Guseva
format Article
author Schulte, Paul A
Riediker, Michael
Fatkhutdinova, Liliya
Bergamaschi, Enrico
Canu, Irina Guseva
author_sort Schulte, Paul A
title Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
title_short Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
title_full Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
title_fullStr Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
title_full_unstemmed Methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
title_sort methodological, political and legal issues in the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on human health
publishDate 2019
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105456
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/48686
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