Consumer risk assessment for nanoproducts on the Danish market

Nanomaterials (NM) are applied in a wide range of consumer products and the commercial use of NM in both amount and diversity is anticipated to increase rapidly in the near future. It is increasingly recognised that NM may have unique properties as compared to larger particles sizes of the same substances, favouring the use of NM in products, articles and technologies. At the same time, concerns in relation to possible health and environmental properties and impacts of NM have surfaced. Based on this background, the Danish government and the Red-Green Alliance (in Danish, Enhedslisten) have signed an agreement for four years (2012-2015) that focuses on the use of nanomaterials in products on the Danish market and their consequences to consumers and the environment. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a series of projects with the aim of further clarifying possible risks to consumers and the environment.

The current project addresses consumer exposure and risk assessment of nanomaterials in products on the Danish market.

The project has resulted in four reports:

1. Occurrence and exposure assessment of nanomaterials in consumer products and review of available risk assessment tools (Danish EPA, 2015a)

2. Hazard assessment of nanomaterials in consumer products (Danish EPA, 2015b)

3. Human exposure to nanomaterials in the environment – as a reference to nanomaterials exposure from consumer products (Danish EPA, 2015c)

4. Consumer risk assessment and overall conclusions (the current report).