On May 15th the ambitious NANOSOLUTIONS Project kicked off at a lively and productive meeting at the Grand Marina Congress Centre, Helsinki, Finland. Kai Savolainen and Harri Alenius of FIOH, the coordinating institute of the 35-partner FP7 project, led the meeting. During the two-day session, details on the Description of Work were formalised by working groups chaired by leading experts and deliverables were fine-tuned to determine the next steps for the project.
The ambitious project will be crucial in leading the global effort towards greater workplace safety and thorough risk assessment of nano materials.
Most importantly, it will also build consumer, industrial and regulatory confidence by enabling experts to assess potential unknown dangers effectively.
The Nanosolutions project aims to encourage interest and voluntary engagement from the regulators as well as industry stakeholders on both a national and EU level. Other stakeholders will span the public, academics and government. Throughout the discussions, the overarching theme was safety, relating to the chosen nanomaterials being assured by the project.
The project partners and members of the International Advisory Group also gathered together for an evening meal on Luoto Island and left the meeting inspired to make the work successful on a global level over the next four years.
The research of the project will find new methods for assessing the disadvantages of, exposure to, and risks presented by industrial nanoparticles. The NANOSOLUTIONS project will ultimately show the world how Europe especially, is pressing forward the responsibility of setting global standards in nanotech safety regulation.
