| Posted: August 14, 2009 |
Nanotechnology and occupational and environmental health |
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(Nanowerk News) The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health is organizing the 4th International Conference on Nanotechnology – Occupational and Environmental Health on 26-29 August 2009 in Paasitorni, Helsinki, Finland.
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The Conference will discuss global health and safety issues surrounding engineered nanoparticles and nanotechnologies, especially in connection with occupational and environmental health. The conference will also provide insights into the latest research results and actions to assure the safety and thereby the future success of nanotechnologies.
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Engineered nanoparticles provide a qualitatively new basis for a number of technologies. Industries that utilize nanotechnologies, i.e. deal with matter on the nanometer scale, do so in a vast number of commercial applications. These applications provide a huge potential for both technological and economic benefits. Nanotechnologies may also provide an important means to conserve raw materials and promote sustainable development.
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The workplace represents a critical interface between people and nanotechnology, and an area where potential impact needs to be understood and managed. In the future, it is also likely that even wider distribution of these particles may have significant effects on organisms in different compartments of the environment. The potential effects of engineered nanoparticles on the ecosystem must thus also be considered in order to assure the safety of humans and the environment.
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The NanOEH2009 Conference is the fourth in a series of meetings arranged previously in Taiwan (2007), the United States (2005), and the United Kingdom (2004). The Conference will provide a multi-stakeholder forum for presenting, assimilating, and discussing the latest breakthroughs in top-quality research and activities concerning the safety of nanotechnology as well as worker and environmental safety and health.
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Who should attend?
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Scientists and experts interested in the safety and health effects of nanoparticles, their characterization and exposure assessment, experts in occupational and environmental health and safety; representatives of the nanotechnology industry; employers and employee organizations; policy-makers at national, regional and international levels; organizations funding nanotechnology research; and all key stakeholders in this area.
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