Risk Management

Risk Management Steps

The first step of risk management is the identification and generation of risk management options. For example, these are measures to control or to reduce the release of nondeterministic polynomially (NP) problems, foster technological developments (filter technologies, etc.), implement economic incentives (taxation, duties, certification schemes), develop compensation schemes, generate knowledge, collect data (epidemiological studies, studies on work safety), and develop guidelines and best practice manuals. The dissemination of information about risks or the implementation of educational programs are also options for risk management.

The second step is the assessment and evaluation of the risk management options. The criteria of this assessment are effectiveness, efficiency, minimization of external side effects, sustainability, fairness, political and legal implementability, and ethical and public acceptability.

The third step is the selection and implementation of risk management options. Due to the fact that it is not known how society and the relevant actors will react toward the risk management measures, the fourth step of risk management is monitoring their performance by observation of the effects of the options once they are implemented.

Risk management should not be visualized as a linear progression, but as a circular process, forming an interactive process with reassessment phases. Unexpected side effects of the measures could become evident and overrule the intended aims. New technologies (measurement techniques, filter techniques) may offer new options. Societal, economic, or political changes could demand a new orientation of the risk management process. Therefore, the differentiation between risk assessment and risk management is only analytical. In practice, both activities are interconnected.

Challenges of Risk Management of Nanotechnology

The most important issues for risk management of nanotechnology are closing knowledge gaps, and developing technical analytics. This is particularly the case for engineered synthetic nanoparticles, where the risks seem to be the most obvious. To assess the possible hazards of nanoparticles, it is necessary to characterize them properly—size distribution, shape, surface characteristics, state (free, agglomeration, accumulation, dispersed), and stability (persistence).

At present, the analytical methods to characterize nanoparticles are very limited. It is especially a problem that the existing methods are merely restricted to characterize nanoparticles in highly artificial environment (e.g., immediately after their production in an ultra-high vacuum chamber). The characterization and even the detection of nanoparticles in the water, air, soil, or products and food are almost never possible. This lack of analytical tools is also a huge barrier for toxicological investigations. Furthermore, they are a precondition for the investigation of the fate of nanoparticles once they have been released into the environment. These specific metrology tools are also important for the effective measurement of exposure, for example at a workplace.

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