General Introduction

Kai Savolainen,    Nanosafety Research Centre, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

The potential of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) and nanotechnologies to improve the quality of life, to contribute to economic growth and to sharpen the competitiveness of industry is now widely recognized, not only in Europe, but globally. Nanotechnologies can permit remarkable technological advances and innovations in many industrial sectors including the chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, food and information industries, as well as energy production and consumer items. However, there is an on-going scientific and political debate about the potential risks of ENM and nanotechnologies [1–6]. One must not simply praise the technological benefits; the concepts of safety and health have to be incorporated into all thinking related to the production of engineered nanomaterials and emerging nanomaterials, especially the future generations of engineered nanomaterials [7], the so-called second- (active nanomaterials), third- (self-assembling nanomaterials) and fourth-generation nanomaterials (nano-robots, countless new nanomaterial innovations), which will briefly be mentioned here, although they are largely outside the scope of this discussion.

The EU 2020 strategy defines smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as the principal European 2020 objective. Research and innovation have been identified as the twin drivers of European social and economic prosperity, i.e., capable of generating growth combined with environmental sustainability [8]. Recently, the same issues have been highlighted in several American documents on environmental health and safety strategies [9–11].

The competitiveness of the European industry is the crucial factor in achieving these challenging goals, i.e., the role of innovations and an accelerated pace of the commercialization of innovations have been recognized as being the foundation stones of growth. The recent Communication from the Commission on Horizon 2020 – The Programme for Research and Innovation [12] emphasizes the importance of research and innovation for society at large. The same issues have been stressed in the EU Nanotechnology Action Plan 2005–2009 [1].

These considerations all mean that in the future there will be remarkable changes in the way that the European Commission and the EU Member States evaluate these emerging materials and technologies. The proposal for establishing the new Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020 [13] places the major emphasis on securing a strong position in key enabling technologies (KET) such as information and communication technologies (ICT), nanotechnology, advanced materials, space technology and biotechnology. The document underlines their significance to Europe's competitiveness and its ability to provide the new products and innovative services essential for meeting global challenges. In particular, nanotechnology offers substantial possibilities for improving the competitive position of the EU and for responding to key societal challenges. The need to ensure the safe development and application of nanotechnologies has been included in the broad line of activities of the Horizon 2020 proposal [14]. Over the years (see 15–18) it has become increasingly clear that one cannot have successful nanotechnologies without the parallel assurance that these novel materials are safe and pose no threat to human health or the environment. Hence, both engineered nanomaterials and the nanotechnologies utilizing these materials have to prove their trustworthiness [19,20].

In fact, it is not enough that the new technology applications should be safe in themselves, they should also confer substantial improvements on human health and offer environmental protection. Due to the rapidly increasing production and use of ENM and utilization of nanotechnologies, these safety aspects must be fully understood and addressed. Even though it is unlikely that the size of nanomaterials per se can be viewed as a hazard or pose a threat to human health or the environment [3], their small size does mean that they gain ready access to living organisms, and this raises the question of their biocompatibility [21]. At present, there is scientific uncertainty about the safety of several of these materials. Emphasizing the importance of the safety assessment of the nanosized substances, a facet raised not only by the European Commission and several EU Member States, but also by authorities outside Europe, e.g., in the US [10,11,22]. It is recognized that the safety of the manufacturing processes, as well as the technologies and products utilizing engineered nanomaterials, will be crucial if these materials, technologies and products are to be successful.