Following the publication of the European Commission Recommendation on the Definition of Nanomaterial 2011/696/EU (COMS Recommendation) on the 18 October 2011 and the publication by the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) Institute of Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) of a follow-on document entitled Requirements on Measurements for the Implementation of the European Commission definition of the term 'nanomaterial' (JRC IRMM Report), NIA has prepared a briefing that provides an analysis of the JRC IRMM Report and draws some key conclusions:
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The JRC IRMM Report highlights a number of characterisation techniques available for implementation of the COMS Recommendation and describes their limitations; one of the major conclusions of the JRC IRMM Report is that not one single technique could be used to cover the whole size range required by the COMS Recommendation and be able to produce a meaningful number count of particles
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The JRC IRMM Report analyses eight general techniques for nanomaterial characterisation according to their measurement range, limiting factors, output data and the ability to deal with aggregates and agglomerates
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NIA’s analysis of the eight characterisation techniques described in the JRC IRMM Report leads it to the conclusion that it is much easier to classify a material as a nanomaterial than to prove that the sample is not a nanomaterial
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The JRC IRMM report highlights difficulties in describing the particle size and focuses on the minimum Feret diameter as a measure for particle size
Following an initial NIA Briefing, published on 18 October 2011, in which NIA answered the 10 most burning questions on the EU Recommendation, and a detailed NIA Workshop on Defining Nano!? - Compliance Requirements & Market Impact of the EU Definition of 'Nanomaterials', and a technical analysis and NIA Members Briefing on the European Commission Recommendation on the Definition of ‘Nanomaterial’, NIA now provides a detailed technical analysis of the JRC IRMM Report:
Registered NIA Members can download the full NIA Members Briefing on Measurement Requirements of the European Commission Definition of ‘Nanomaterial.
