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Abstract

Nanotechnology is one of the key-technologies of this century. Whilst it is associated with many positive prospects, there are also concerns about unknown risks. In particular, there are concerns about negative effects on human health from the use of free nanomaterials (material that have at least one dimension under 100 nm). Although nanotoxicology is a growing research with an increasing number of published studies, there are still a lot of knowledge gaps. Questions which have to be answered in the near future are: how the different nanomaterials behave in the environment, how they behave in the organism and what effects they can cause in biological systems. Nanomaterials differ in their physical and chemical properties as well as in their uptake in the organism and their toxicity in comparison with the equivalent bulk material. With the present knowledge it is assumed that the biggest health risks are from inhaleable nanoparticles, nanotubes and nanofibres. There are indications for effects not only on the respiratory tract but also on the cardiovascular system and the central nervous system. Toxicology studies of nanomaterials have proved that for the described effects not only the size of the material, but also its structure and composition, are relevant. There is an urgent need to verify whether existing laws on chemical safety and on the safety of consumer products has to be adapted to the specific properties of nanomaterials. One first step could be to treat chemicals in the form of nanoparticles, nanotubes or nanofibers as a special group of substances in the regulation No 1907/2006 concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH).