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NanoSafe III: A User Friendly Safety Management System for Nanomaterials in Laboratories and Small Facilities

Elina Buitrago, Alke Fink, Thierry Meyer, Anna Maria Novello

Research in nanoscience continues to bring forward a steady stream of new nanomaterials and processes that are being developed and marketed. While scientific committees and expert groups deal with the harmonization of terminology and legal challenges, risk assessors in research labs continue to have to deal with the gap between regulations and rapidly developing information. The risk assessment of nanomaterial processes is currently slow and tedious because it is performed on a material-by-material basis. Safety data sheets are rarely available for (new) nanomaterials, and even when they are, they often lack nano-specific information. Exposure estimations or measurements are difficult to perform and require sophisticated and expensive equipment and personal expertise. The use of banding-based risk assessment tools for laboratory environments is an efficient way to evaluate the occupational risks associated with nanomaterials. Herein, we present an updated version of our risk assessment tool for working with nanomaterials based on a three-step control banding approach and the precautionary principle. The first step is to determine the hazard band of the nanomaterial. A decision tree allows the assignment of the material to one of three bands based on known or expected effects on human health. In the second step, the work exposure is evaluated and the processes are classified into three “nano” levels for each specific hazard band. The work exposure is estimated using a laboratory exposure model. The result of this calculation in combination with recommended occupational exposure limits (rOEL) for nanomaterials and an additional safety factor gives the final “nano” level. Finally, we update the technical, organizational, and personal protective measures to allow nanomaterial processes to be established in research environments.

2021

Efficient management of nanomaterial hazards in a large number of research laboratories in an academic environment

Elina Buitrago, Amela Groso, Thierry Meyer, Anna Maria Novello

As the number of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) used in research increases with an incredible speed, health and safety specialists are continuously faced with the challenge of evaluating the risks involved with these materials. Nowadays there is not enough information about their toxicology and new materials are continuously being developed. Preliminary scientific results indicate that ENM might have a damaging impact on human health, which makes it even more important to have the right mitigation measures in place. To address this challenge a methodology of iterative nature has been developed, and this paper demonstrates how the iterative cycle is applied in practice and the added value this adds to the university in terms of economic value, protection of researcher health and identifying knowledge-gaps. The methodology is adaptive and learning based, and it takes into account both the hazard level of the ENM and the exposure. The usefulness and completeness of the methodology is demonstrated with an extensive classification of the activities involving ENM at the EPFL research campus. This classification allowed for a complete hazard portfolio and a simplified risk mapping, which facilitates resource allocation decision-making.

2020

Third-Generation Solar Cells: Toxicity and Risk of Exposure

Elina Buitrago, Thierry Meyer, Anna Maria Novello

Solar energy is considered clean energy, and its use is predicted to increase in the near future. Most installed units today are crystalline solar cells, but the field is in constant development, and when the first dye sensitized solar cell was published byGratzelandO'Reagana new, third-generation, solar power was born. Highly toxic metals are used to produce the photovoltaic units today, and with the predicted increase in solar cell installation, the human health hazards of these panels could become an issue. Additionally, many of these materials are used in their nanoform, which is associated with an additional risk. In this article, we discuss the technology behind the third-generation solar cells with its valuable use of nanotechnology as well as the possible health hazard when such nanomaterials are used in solar power units. We will show that the main exposure will occur either during the development and production phases or at the end-of-life stage of the solar cells, where toxic material can leach into landfills, and subsequently into the environment and impact the ecosystem directly, or humans indirectly through edible plants or drinking water.

2020