EC Research Center Issues Report on Defining “Nanomaterial”

The European Commission’s (EC’s) Joint Research Centre has published a report that explores various definitions for the term “nanomaterial” currently in use around the world in an effort to devise a single definition that could make nanotechnology amenable to regulation. Titled “Considerations on a Definition of Nanomaterial for Regulatory Purposes,” the report observes that nanomaterials are currently being used in food and nutritional ingredients as well as food packaging.

The authors call for a single definition of nanomaterial that will be “broadly applicable in EU legislation and policies, legally clear and unambiguous, enforceable through agreed measurement techniques and procedures, and in line with other approaches worldwide.” According to the report, no official definition for the term has yet been adopted in the United States, but the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a definition for “engineered nanoscale material” under the Toxic Substances Control Act.