| Summary: |
The OECD Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology Joint Meeting decided to hold a Workshop on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials in December 2005, in Washington, D.C. Based on the conclusions and recommendations of the Workshop [ENV/JM/MONO(2006)19] they recognized that it was essential to ensure the efficient assessment of manufactured nanomaterials so as to avoid adverse effects from the use of these materials in the short, medium and longer term. With this in mind, the OECD Council established the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) as a subsidiary body of the OECD Chemicals Committee. This program concentrates on international cooperation with respect to human health and environmental safety implications of manufactured nanomaterials (limited mainly to the chemicals sector), and aims to ensure that the approach to hazard, exposure and risk assessment is of a high, science-based, and internationally harmonized standard. This document is intended to provide information on activities of the WPMN related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. The Working Party endorsed this report at its 5th Meeting on March 2009. This document is published on the responsibility of the Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and the Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology of the OECD. |