Events

In this section relevant scientific events organised by the Nanosafety Team of the Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health are featured, such as the series of the National Conferences ‘Nanotechnologies and nanomaterials in the food sector and their safety assessment’ (2013, 2016, 2019, 2023).

First National Conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials in the Food Sector and their Safety Assessment (2013)

Second National Conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials in the Food Sector and their Safety Assessment (2016)

Third National Conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials in the Food Sector and their Safety Assessment (2019)

National Workshop ‘Applications of nanotechnologies in the food sector: Regulatory developments and improvements in analytical control capabilities of nanomaterials in food (2019)

Fourth National Conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials in the Food Sector and their Safety Assessment

Fourth National Conference Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials in the Food Sector and their Safety Assessment

26 October 2023
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Aula Pocchiari, Viale Regina Elena, 299 – 00161 Rome

The methodologies for risk assessment of the applications of nanotechnologies have evolved in recent times and new guidance documents have been published by EFSA. These documents establish the scientific standards for the regulatory safety assessment of nanomaterials in the EU: their ultimate goal is to protect the health of European citizens by establishing sound and transparent assessment routes, whose absence would restrain innovation in a strategic sector. A paradigmatic example is the EFSA assessment of the first nanosized iron supplement, a source of the nutrient whose safety has been recently established. In this context, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) are in the spotlight since they afford to obtain important information about mechanisms without use of animal testing. In this area the experts of the Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health coordinate EFSA-funded international projects such as NANOCELLUP (Use of NAMs for the hazard assessment of nanofibers - Lot 1 nanocellulose oral exposure: gastrointestinal digestion, nanofibers uptake and local effects) and NAMS4NANO Lot 3 (Integration of New Approach Methodologies results in chemical risk assessments: Case studies addressing nanoscale considerations - Methodological and generic case studies). The conference aims to update the national community and its different stakeholders (scientists, institutions, business community, citizens) on these new scientific and assessment developments.