Emerging methods and tools for environmental risk assessment, decision-making, and policy for nanomaterials: summary of NATO Advanced Research Workshop

his article reports some of the major conclusions reached during a 2008 NATO workshop that sought to evaluate the potential implications of the use of nanomaterials on human health and the environment, especially focusing on the practical needs of policy decision-makers. The primary goals of the workshop were to describe the potential benefits of nanotechnology-enabled consumer products, to identify and describe what is known about the environmental and human health risks of nanotechnology and to assess their safety, to assess the sustainability of multi-criteria decision analysis for reconciling the benefits and risks of nanomaterials and nanotechnology, to provide direction for future research and environmental science to address issues associated with emerging nano-enabled consumer products, and to identify strategies for users in developing countries to best manage nanotechnology development and its associated risks, as well as to realize its benefits.