Results from SUN 2nd annual meeting show great advancement of the project
During their second annual meeting, held in Venice, Italy on 8-9 October 2015, SUN project partners presented the results obtained during the second 12 months of the SUN – Sustainable Nanotechnologies Project.
SUN is a three and a half year EU project, running from 2013 to 2017, with a budget of about €14 million. Its main goal is to evaluate the risks along the supply chain of engineered nanomaterials and incorporate the results into tools and guidelines for sustainable manufacturing.
The SUN project is based on the idea that the still limited knowledge about environmental and health risks of manufactured nanomaterials (MN) can nevertheless guide nanomanufacturing to avoid liabilities if risk analysis is complemented by a sound socioeconomic analysis in an integrated approach addressing the complete product lifecycle. This is the main rationale behind developing the SUN user-friendly, software-based Decision Support System (SUNDS) for managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of nanotechnologies.
The main highlight of the 2nd annual meeting was the release of SUNDS beta prototype. The SUNDS beta prototype has been presented and discussed during the second SUN stakeholders workshop held on 7 October in Venice, Italy aimed at representatives from industry, regulatory and insurance sectors. The design and implementation of the SUNDS is proceeding according to the work plan. The outlook for the upcoming months include refining the methodology, modules implementation and testing the decision support system on selected case studies (i.e. copper oxide and organic pigments).
“The SUN Decision Support System represents a blend of most advanced models for human health and ecological risk assessment and for the first time compares the risks from nanotechnologies to their economic and social benefits in order to effectively support risk management decision making by the European nanotechnology industry” explained Dr. Danail Hristozov, the Principal Investigator of SUN.
About SUN
SUN – Sustainable Nanotechnologies Project – an EU FP7 project, aiming to develop strategies for safe production, handling and disposal covering the complete lifecycle of nano-enabled products and to include the results into practical guidelines for industries.