A framework for health-related nanomaterial grouping.

Background: Nanotechnology has been in the limelight since its emergence and its products affect everyday lives. Nanomaterials are characterized by features such as size and shape, thus rendering their possible number essentially unlimited, which in turn makes them difficult to study and categorize regarding possible dangers. This work suggests that grouping could allow studying them with limited testing efforts without endangering safety.

Methods: Initially, the materials are identified and grouped according to their applications in health/medicine, as well as on their environmentally-friendly potential. The materials are then categorized using various toxicity classification methods to identify those with highest risks and group them with others that demonstrate similar behavior.

Results: The materials studied show promising uses in diagnostics, drug delivery, biosensors, water purification, oil spill cleaning, emission control and other fields. The toxicity risk assessment shows that the majority pose little to moderate risk, however there are certain materials that can be extremely hazardous or even cause death under specific circumstances. A risk mitigation plan was also developed.

Conclusions: Nanomaterials applications, including drug delivery, cancer treatment, waste treatment, solar energy generation etc. can be very beneficiary, but at the same time, these materials can be extremely harmful or even cause death, thus making the need to prioritize research on high risk materials crucial. A clear regulatory framework that addresses both benefits and risks and communicates that information effectively should play an important part in European and worldwide efforts.

General Significance: The risk analysis validated the impression that there is limited research on nanomaterial toxicity risks, which calls for a more organized approach. The framework outlined in this work can be utilized by researchers as well as government bodies, in order to form regulatory policies and adopt a universally accepted labeling system. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Recent Advances in Bionanomaterials" Guest Editor: Dr. Marie-Louise Saboungi and Dr. Samuel D. Bader.