The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published ISO/TR 22293:2021, “Evaluation of methods for assessing the release of nanomaterials from commercial, nanomaterial-containing polymer composites.” ISO states that an understanding of what is released from products containing manufactured nanomaterials “is critical to planning and managing safe development and use of those products.” The document aims to provide a guide to the information to be taken into account in determining the methods for identifying and evaluating releases of manufactured nanomaterials from matrices; providing a framework for understanding how these methods and the information they produce can support decision-making; and identifying opportunities for developing standards in this area. According to ISO, the document provides practical support for decisions related to product development and use through early consideration of the potential for release of manufactured nanomaterials and through focus on realistic use scenarios where exposures to the released manufactured nanomaterials might occur. The intended users of the document include:
- Those planning to develop or adapt technical specifications for manufactured nanomaterials used in commercial products;
- Risk managers, product developers, exposure measurement practitioners, and other stakeholders seeking guidance on the availability and utility of methods to measure releases that could occur from uses of specific manufactured nanomaterials in composites;
- Methods and instrumentation developers seeking to identify needs of the risk management community; and
- Those planning basic and applied research programs for measurement and modeling to support decisions about sustainably safe uses of manufactured nanomaterials.