Vrishali Subramanian

Is there a shift to “active nanostructures”?

It has been suggested that an important transition in the long-run trajectory of nanotechnology development is a shift from passive to active nanostructures. Such a shift could present different or increased societal impacts and require new approaches for risk assessment. An active nanostructure “changes or evolves its state during its operation,” according to the National Science Foundation’s (2006) Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems grant solicitation. Active nanostructure examples include nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), nanomachines, self-healing materials, targeted drugs and chemicals, energy storage devices, and sensors. This article considers two questions: (a) Is there a “shift” to active nanostructures? (b) How can we characterize the prototypical areas into which active nanostructures may emerge? We build upon the NSF definition of active nanostructures to develop a research publication search strategy, with a particular intent to distinguish between passive and active nanotechnologies. We perform bibliometric analyses and describe the main publication trends from 1995 to 2008. We then describe the prototypes of research that emerge based on reading the abstracts and review papers encountered in our search. Preliminary results suggest that there is a sharp rise in active nanostructures publications in 2006, and this rise is maintained in 2007 and through to early 2008. We present a typology that can be used to describe the kind of active nanostructures that may be commercialized and regulated in the future.

Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

Review of decision analytic tools for sustainable nanotechnology

Nanotechnology innovation is hampered by data gaps and knowledge limitations in evaluating the risks and impacts of nano-enabled products. “Sustainable nanotechnology” is a growing concept in the literature, which calls for a comprehensive evaluation of the risks and impacts of nanotechnology at an early stage of nano-enabled product life cycle. ‘One such method to frame sustainable nanotechnology is the triple bottom line (TBL) approach, which comprises the environmental, economic, and societal “pillars” that contribute to the overall sustainability of a nano-enabled product. For the context of nanotechnology, risk analysis (RA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are frequently called upon to support sustainable nanotechnology governance. This paper provides a systematic review of these tools in the context of sustainable nanotechnology. The results indicate a growing number of applications for these tools with LCA contributing to the environmental and economic pillars, and RA contributing to the environmental pillar. MCDA provides the structural scaffold and mathematical techniques necessary to integrate RA and LCA within the TBL, and also provides the means to address uncertainty of early-stage nanotechnology assessment. Using these tools, integrated sustainability assessment could provide a viable means for industry and regulators to make near-term decisions about complex nanotechnology problems.

Supporting decision-making for sustainable nanotechnology

AbstractUnderstanding how stakeholders manage risks associated with nanomaterials is a key input to the design of strategies and tools to achieve safe and sustainable nanomanufacturing. The paper presents some results of a study aiming firstly to inform the development of a software decision support tool. Further, we seek also to understand existing tools used by stakeholders as a source of capabilities and potential adaptation into decision support framework and tools. Central research questions of this study are: How is collective decision-making on risk management and sustainable nanomaterials organised? Which aspects are taken into account in this collective decision-making? And what role can a decision support tool play in such decision-making? The paper analyses 13 responses to a questionnaire survey held among participants in a meeting in October 2013 and a series of 27 semi-structured telephone interviews conducted from January until April 2014 with decision-makers from mainly European industry and regulators involved in risk management and sustainable manufacturing of nanomaterials. Findings from the study on the social organisation of collective decision-making, aspects taken into account in decisions and potential role of decision support tools are presented.

Evaluation of existing control measures in reducing health and safety risks of engineered nanomaterials

While the risk management of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) receives significant attention, there is still a limited understanding of how to select optimal risk management measures (RMMs) for controlling and mitigating the risks associated with exposure to ENMs. Clearly, there exists a need to expand current risk management practices to ensure safe production, handling and use of ENMs. Moreover, the performance of the existing RMMs should be re-evaluated for ENMs since control options that are proven to be effective for preventing or limiting risks associated with traditional particles might give unsatisfactory results in the case of nano-scale particles. This paper has brought together the evidence on the adequacy of traditional controls to minimize potential health and environmental risks resulting from exposure to ENMs. The aim here is to advance our understanding of the risk management approaches relevant for ENMs, and ultimately to support the selection of the most suitable RMMs when handling ENMs. To that end, evaluative evidence collected from the review of relevant literature and survey of nanotechnology institutions are combined and summarised to understand the level of protection offered by each control measure, as well as the relative costs of their implementation. The findings suggest that most relevant risk control options are based on isolating people from hazard through engineering measures (e.g. ventilation and chemical fume hoods) or personal protective equipment (PPE), rather than eliminating hazard at source (e.g. substitution). Although control measures related to the modification of ENMs have high efficiency in the occupational risk control hierarchy, they are not widely employed since there is currently a high degree of uncertainty regarding the impact of manipulating nano-characteristics on the performance of final product. Lastly, despite its low cost, PPE is the least effective category in the occupational risk control hierarchy and should not be used on its own when significant risk reduction is required. Clearly, further quantitative data is needed to fully assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of risk control options to prevent risks from exposure to ENMs. When there is little information on the efficiency of control measures specific to ENMs, the default efficiencies can be used for initial assessment purposes although it should not be considered exhaustive.

Empowering citizens in international governance of nanotechnologies.

The international dialogue on responsible governance of nanotechnologies engages a wide range of actors with conflicting as well as common interests. It is also characterised by a lack of evidence-based data on uncertain risks of in particular engineered nanomaterials. The present paper aims at deepening understanding of the collective decision making context at international level using the grounded theory approach as proposed by Glaser and Strauss in “The Discovery of Grounded Theory” (1967). This starts by discussing relevant concepts from different fields including sociological and political studies of international relations as well as political philosophy and ethics. This analysis of current trends in international law making is taken as starting point for exploring the role that a software decision support tool could play in multi-stakeholder global governance of nanotechnologies. These theoretical ideas are then compared with the current design of the SUN Decision Support System (SUNDS) under development in the European project on Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN, www.sun-fp7.eu). Through constant comparison, the ideas are also compared with requirements of different stakeholders as expressed during a user workshop. This allows for highlighting discussion points for further consideration.

Nanotechnology in India: Inferring Links Between Emerging Technologies and Development

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology that has received much global interest, and many national governments are making substantial investments in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) activities. Developing countries, for whom the opportunity cost of research is high, are beginning to show interest in nanotechnology for two reasons. First, many developing countries are making the link between innovation and economic development, and view emerging technologies as an opportunity to “leapfrog” into frontier research areas. As a result, they are increasing their science and technology (S&T) expenditure in these technologies. Second, emerging technologies present innovation opportunities related to their development goals such as environment, health, and energy.

Assessing the social impacts of nano-enabled products through the life cycle: the case of nano-enabled biocidal paint

PurposeAssessment of the social aspects of sustainability of products is a topic of significant interest to companies, and several methodologies have been proposed in the recent years. The significant environmental health and safety concerns about nano-enabled products calls for the early establishment of a clear benefit-risk framework in order to decide which novel products should be developed further. This paper proposes a method to assess the social impacts of nano-enabled products through the life cycle that is (a) quantitative, (b) integrates performance and attitudinal dimensions of social impacts and (c) considers the overall and stakeholder balance of benefits and costs. Social life cycle assessment (s-LCA) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are integrated to address this need, and the method is illustrated on a case study of a nano-enabled product.MethodsThe s-LCA framework comprises 15 indicators to characterize the social context of the product manufacture placed within the classification structure of benefit/cost and worker/community. The methodology includes four steps: (a) normalization of company level data on the social indicator to country level data for the year, (b) nested weighting at stakeholder and indicator level and its integration with normalized scores to create social indicator scores, (c) aggregation of social indicator scores into benefit score, cost score and net benefit scores as per the s-LCA framework and (d) classification of social indicator scores and aggregated scores as low/medium/high based on benchmarks created using employment and value-added proxies.Results and discussionA prospective production scenario involving novel product, a nano-copper oxide (n-CuO)-based paint with biocidal functionality, is assessed with respect to its social impacts. The method was applied to 12 indicators at the company level. Classification of social indicator scores and aggregated scores showed that the n-CuO paint has high net benefits.ConclusionsThe framework and method offer a flexible structure that can be revised and extended as more knowledge and data on social impacts of nano-enabled products becomes available. The proposed method is being implemented in the social impact assessment sub-module of the SUN Decision Support (SUNDS) software system. Companies seeking to improve the social footprint of their products can also use the proposed method to consider relevant social impacts to achieve this goal.

Comparing mental models of prospective users of the sustainable nanotechnology decision support system

Mental modelling analysis can be a valuable tool in understanding and bridging cognitive values in multi-stakeholders’ communities. It is especially true in situation of emerging risks where significant uncertainty and competing objectives could result in significant difference in stakeholder perspective on the use of new materials and technologies. This paper presents a mental modelling study performed among prospective users of an innovative decision support system for safe and sustainable development of nano-enabled products. These users included representatives of industry and regulators, as well as several insurance specialists and researchers. We present methodology and tools for comparing stakeholder views and objectives in the context of developing a decision support system.

Integrating the Social Impacts into Risk Governance of Nanotechnology

Literature on the risk governance of nanotechnology places significant emphasis on the potential social impacts of nano-enabled products. However, there is limited information on which social impacts are relevant for nano-enabled products, and a methodology to monitor them to support risk governance is lacking. This chapter proposes a quantitative methodology based on Social Life Cycle Assessment (s-LCA) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to assess the social impacts of nano-enabled products through their life cycle. The s-LCA conceptual scheme (i.e. impacts and indicators for different stakeholders) is developed through an appraisal of literature on social impacts of products and Ethical, Legal and Social Impacts (ELSI) of nanotechnology, which is used to select suitable indicators in statistical databases. Five indicators associated with impacts of nano-enabled products, with two impacts in Worker category (professional training and non-fatal accidents) and three impacts in Community category (education, employment, research and development expenditure), were identified as relevant to compare nano-enabled products with similar functionality or nano-enabled product with their conventional counterpart. The indicators are organized within a conceptual scheme comprising benefits (education, employment and professional training) and costs (research and development expenditure and non-fatal accidents). A quantitative MCDA methodology is proposed and applied to a case study according to benefit-cost conceptual scheme. The gaps to be addressed to expand the future development of methodologies to assess social impacts of nano-enabled products are discussed.