Nanosafety: INERIS sets up an expertise and research platform

INERIS is building a nano-safe platform in Picardie to strengthen expertise and research into the risks associated with nanotechnologies. This platform is dedicated to the metrology and characterization of the hazard potential of nanomaterials in the context of industrial safety. It will be made available to the Institute's scientific partners, and should also be able to meet the needs of industry. Use of this equipment is already planned for the SERENADE laboratory of excellence, which focuses on the design of innovative, sustainable and safe nanomaterials.

The use of nanotechnologies is one of the levers of industrial innovation today. However, the implementation of
nanoparticles or nanomaterials presents risks, which need to be assessed and controlled to enable the emergence and
deployment of sustainable technologies using them. The rapid development of these technologies calls for a major effort to increase knowledge of the risks involved, and to provide the means to assess these risks.

With this in mind, INERIS, with the financial support of the Conseil Régional de Picardie, is setting up an experimental platform.
unique in France. Located on the Institute's site in Verneuil-en-Halatte (Oise), this 400 m2 facility comprises four laboratories and controlled nanoparticle dusting rooms, which are due to be inaugurated in 2010.
fully operational in the first quarter of 2014.

This nano-safe platform is dedicated to the metrology of nanomaterials and the characterization of the hazard potential of nanomaterials.
chemical substances, particularly in the context of industrial process safety. Among other things, it will study :
● safety parameters (flammability, explosiveness, etc.) of nanoparticles ;
● the potential for emission of nanoparticles into ambient air by materials and products throughout their life cycle (manufacture, use, end-of-life);
● development of metrology and characterization tools adapted to nanomaterials;
● the behavior of powdered nanomaterials in ambient air (dispersion potential, etc.);
● qualification and certification of Best Available Techniques (BATs) for the protection of operators working in
laboratories and industrial environments using nanoparticles.

This platform will reinforce the three integration centers identified as part of Nano-INNOV (Grenoble, Saclay, Toulouse) and
will be made available to INERIS' scientific partners, notably the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC) and the Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV). It has been designed to meet all the needs of industrialists, offering "custom" tests tailored to the specific requirements of each application.

As such, this structuring facility is one of the components of the SERENADE project, which focuses on the eco-design of nanomaterials with a view to preserving the environment at the end of their life cycle or recycling, and protecting the health of professionals and the general public.
users. SERENADE, piloted by the Université Paul Cézanne Aix Marseille III and involving INERIS, is one of the winners of the
the Ministry of Research's "Laboratory of Excellence" call for projects, as part of the future investment program.