The XXVI Conference of the Italian Society of Transport Economics and Logistics (SIET) will be on the September 19-20 2024 at the campus of University of Milano-Bicocca. The conference is organized by the Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Strategy and the Department of Sociology and Social Research.
In the multidisciplinary and interdepartmental spirit of the POLARIS Research Centre, a session entitled “Environmental sciences meet Transport Economy: challenges in sustainable promotion and monitoring solutions” was proposed, sponsored by the Centre itself.
Interested presenters should submit an abstract by April 30, 2024, to siet2024milano@gmail.com, indicating “Polaris session” in the subject. Proposals for communications on topics of interest to the Centre will be welcomed. The proposed session will provide a unique platform for a multidisciplinary exchange between experts and academicians from different fields.
The Safe-by-Design concept (SbD) incorporates safety of nano-enabled product (NEP) at the design stage of the production process. SbD reverses the paradigm of downstream risk analysis and management (‘is it safe?’, ‘can it be controlled?’, ‘does it transform?’) and pursues the production of less hazardous nano-products affording reduced exposure, mediated by the release of nanomaterials during the life-cycle. The SbD production of NEPs has been recently elaborated upon, and several EU funded projects have provided some tools, databases, and case studies for its implementation.
Despite the advantages that can be obtained, the current state of the art indicates that industrial production is struggling to activate the SbD approach and the fast industrial uptake of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) is missing or unsafely implemented. The delay of nanomanufacturing implementation in the industry is due to incorrect use, lack of NMs culture, and/or difficult access to better quality NMs due to cost or logistics reasons. Psychological difficulties due to the use of unregulated substances, easy access to non-quality-certified NMs, difficulties in following the fast technological evolution of NMs also play a role.
ASINA aims to:
support the fast industrial uptake of nanotechnology by providing Safe-by-Design solutions and supporting tools;
to give entrepreneurs knowledge and awareness of Safe-by-Design potential;
to increase confidence in Safe-by-Design nanomanufacturing by improving the interaction and integration of different stakeholders (entrepreneurs, scientists, regulators, innovators, policy makers).
For this purpose, the proposal will take into consideration the important nano design features of coating and encapsulation and related Value Chains (VCs). ASINA will develop a specific Safe-by-Design Management Methodology, consistent with modern business management systems, to deliver Safe-by-Design solutions and inform design decisions. The project will establish a pilot action, involving test beds and pilot plants, for testing and validating the methodology contents as specific implementations that can be generalized to other engineered nanomaterials, nano-enabled products and industrial case studies. ASINA will finally export the methodology to the industry through a roadmap (including guidelines, analytical tools, best practices) and other standardization deliverables such as CEN-CWA, as a realistic way to ensure diffusion of the ASINA SMM and its industrial implementation worldwide.
PROJECT DETAILS:
PROJECT TITLE: Anticipating Safety Issues at the Design Stage of NAno Product Development
ACRONYM: ASINA
START DATE: 01 March 2020
END DATE: 28 February 2024
TOPIC: NMBP-15-2019 Safe by design, from science to regulation: metrics and main sectors (RIA)
The Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework aims to steer the innovation process towards the green and sustainable industrial transition, substitute or minimise the production and use of substances of concern, and minimise the impact on health, climate and the environment during sourcing, production, use and end-of-life of chemicals, materials and products. However, SSbD implementation to nanomaterials (NMs) is hampered by a lack of harmonized or specific data and datasets which poses a challenge to the design of safe and sustainable NMs and their incorporation into nano-enabled products (NEPs).
INTEGRANO aims to:
• Support decision making in NM development, enabling stakeholders (scientists, material engineers, policymakers) to tackle the SSbD challenge in the NM context
• Promote the design and redesign of NMs and NEPs by reducing R&D and approval lead time, minimising costs and increasing data transparency
• To support industry by reducing research and technological development and innovation risk related to safety and sustainability by enabling impact-based informed investment decisions
UNIMIB is project coordinator of the project and leader of WP3, which aims at nano-tox and nano eco-tox data generation.
UNIMIB is coordinator of a new Horizon Europe project: INTEGRANO (GA. 101138414).
In line with the current guidelines for Safe and Sustainable by Design – SSbD chemicals and materials, INTEGRANO proposes a general assessment approach based on quantitative evidence to be applied in practice for specific Nano Materials (NMs) design cases.
INTEGRANO ambition is to set the basis for a new paradigm based on standardised frameworks and by creating suitable NMs datasets as well as Nanospecific impact categories of NMs through their Life Cycle Stages (LCS), applied to specific design cases assessment.
12 partners from 8 different countries participate in the hashtagIntegrano Project. This network allows for different expertises and skills within the project, which complement and support each other.
Researchers from the POLARIS Interdepartmental Centre attended the European Aerosol Conference 2023 (EAC2023) which was held in Malaga (Spain) from 3 to 8 September.
