The European Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published 11 January 2019, a statement and a position paper on emerging risks. The SCHEER statement identifies 14 emerging risks, where two risks, 1: Micro and nano-plastic in the environment and 2; Nanoparticles released from Building Materials and construction waste to the Environment include nanomaterials, are included.
The report states that 'Gradual degradation of plastic materials over time is known to result in microplastics - which in theory could also further degrade to nano-plastics.' For this topic it is the opinion of the SCHEER that the standardisation of methods for assessing exposure, as well as the development of methods for assessing the different behaviour in living organisms of micro and nano plastics, represent urgent priorities'.
For nanoparticles realease from buiding materials, it is stated that 'Nanomaterials are found in construction products, primarily in surface coatings, concrete, window glass, insulation and steel' and the release of NPs may occur when the coatings are not adequately fixed to the stone or when they are not sufficiently effective to prevent stone degradation and crumbling.'
The SCHEER position paper outlines the SCHEER approach to emerging risks. The purpose of the position paper is to describe how SCHEER draws the attention of the European Commission services to emerging issues in the non- food area.
