The European Commission aims for industrial leadership in advanced materials but puts limited focus on ensuring their safety and sustainability. The NanoSafety Cluster (NSC) has published a roadmap identifying critical actions related to the safety and sustainability of nanomaterials and other innovative advanced materials. Urgent implementation of these actions is crucial to prevent advanced materials from becoming the next substances of concern.

European Commission aims for industrial leadership in advanced materials

In February 2024, the European Commission introduced a strategic action plan to promote European industrial leadership in advanced materials. This “Communication on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership” aims to support the Commission’s green and digital transition goals. The plan emphasises the importance of maximizing the benefits of advanced materials while maintaining a commitment to zero pollution. The Commission also highlights the need for advanced materials to be ‘safe and sustainable by design’. Nevertheless, it does not provide specific details on how to ensure the safety, sustainability, and circularity of advanced materials.

Chemicals and materials need to be safe and sustainable by design

Throughout the European community, there is increasing pressure to stop using so-called substances of concern and to implement the principles of the safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) framework. The European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) recently noted that while some progress has been made in using safer and more sustainable chemicals in some areas, this transition is just beginning in others.

The European research community on nanomaterials and advanced materials, assembled in the NanoSafety Cluster (NSC), is collaborating to prioritise activities to create a safe, sustainable, and toxic-free world. They recently published the NSC Roadmap, combining their knowledge of nanomaterials and identifying lessons learned and knowledge gaps. The roadmap highlights essential actions related to the safety and sustainability of both nanomaterials and other innovative advanced materials. These include:

• Findable and reusable (FAIR) data and management of (meta)data
• Integration of safety into innovation, taking into account the knowledge of the unique properties of innovative advanced materials
• Integration of circularity and sustainability into innovation by providing guidance and tools on how to implement SSbD
• Translation and valorisation of SSbD by stimulating collaborations between different knowledge fields and anticipating regulatory requirements
• Harmonisation and standardisation of test methods
• Regulatory preparedness and governance of these new materials

The roadmap describes the current state-of-the-art for each area, identifies unresolved aspects and emerging issues, and the necessary steps to address the gaps within each area. Societal acceptance is crucial to fully benefit from the advantages of innovative advanced materials. The NSC roadmap provides pivotal input on both responsible innovation by industry and effective governance by policymakers.

Reflections by RIVM

The Commission Communication aims to harness the potential benefits of innovative advanced materials while maintaining ‘zero pollution’ goals. However, this seems in contradiction with the lack of specific actions to ensure the safety and sustainability of these materials and their applications in products. Experience with materials like chlorofluorocarbons, asbestos, and, more recently, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have shown that so-called “wonder materials” may eventually compromise ‘zero pollution’ goals and become widespread as substances of concern.

The NSC roadmap underlines this issue by identifying urgent areas that must be addressed to prevent the ever-increasing gap between regulatory preparedness and governance and the pace of innovation. Closing this gap is essential to fully utilize the potential of these materials and gain societal acceptance.