"Nano" will be ecolabelled in the EU

Immediately after the announcement of the new standard, an uproar

In the future, detergents and lubricants containing nano-materials will be allowed to be labeled on the EU eco-label in the European market. A new standard announced by the European Union's Ecolabelling Agency on February 11 classified them as environmentally friendly products. Immediately after this decision was announced, there was an uproar in the industry, and the safety of nanomaterials was once again the focus.

The EU ecolabel is also called the flower logo or the European flower. In order to encourage the production and consumption of green products in Europe, the EU introduced an eco-label system in 1992. The label is a green flower pattern, and the eco-labeled product is also often referred to as a decal product. Thousands of products in the electronics, apparel, and construction industries that meet the environmental friendly standards set by the European Union's Ecolabelling Agency have been labelled green, and specific standards have been revised several times in a few years.

In the original standard, universal cleaners, detergents and lubricants would be excluded if they contained nanomaterials. However, according to the final version approved by the European Union's Ecolabelling Agency, nanomorphic substances can also stand on the same starting line with other substances.

Paul Vaughan, head of the UK's eco-labelling group, said: "We have to set a higher threshold, so in some cases if we can't get enough information about nanomorphology, then we won't allow it A component of an environmentally friendly product."

However, Lukas Hammer, eco-label coordinator of the European Environment Agency and the European consumer organisation, believes the standard is too loose. He said: “This is not good news for consumers. Although we allow these products containing nanomaterials to be ecolabelled, we have almost nothing to know about the impact on the environment and health.” Hammer claims that environmental protection People have always wanted to blacklist nanomaterials. The final decision this time was obviously political resistance. He is more concerned about the fact that the final version of the text is too vague and may lead to different interpretations by countries.

Another issue that the European Environment Agency is concerned with is whether there is a uniform test method for nanomaterials that can provide REACH with the information it needs. In this regard, Steffi Friedrichs, director of the Nanotechnology Industry Association, believes that there is no need to invent new test methods, but she said that some existing ecotoxicity assessment methods still need improvement. She said: "We are working hard to improve the specific test methods, so that all experimental parameters of nanomaterials are in line with REACH requirements. Regulatory management of products containing nanomaterials is still difficult, and the definition of nanomaterials needs to be approved by the European Union." EU Emerging and New The Scientific Committee on the Identification of Health Risks (SCENIHR) began to seek the views of the industry on the scientific basis for the definition of future nanomaterials in the middle of last year. SCENIHR believes that the most important scientific basis for defining nanomaterials is size. However, people in the industry hold different views and no agreement has yet been reached.

The Royal Society of Britain and the Royal College of Engineering have suggested that the European Union should legislate to list nano-particles and nanotubes as new chemical substances to facilitate the implementation of corresponding safety tests. In addition, relevant industries of nanotechnology should issue uniform safety inspection rules. The government should also set up an independent scientific safety committee to test nanotechnology products that involve ordinary people and prove that it is harmless to the human body before entering the market.

The governments of developed countries also attach great importance to the safety of nanomaterials. In January of this year, the United States and the United Kingdom’s environmental and scientific institutions set up a $5 million science ** that will develop a new risk control tool to help government officials manage nanotechnology more effectively. material.

The project is part of a $11 million US-British nanotechnology research program funded by the U.S. Environmental Agency, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Research Council, and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research. Council, medical research council, etc.