title: LICARA nanoSCAN - A tool for the self-assessment of benefits and risks of nanoproducts.
abstract: The fast penetration of nanoproducts on the market under conditions of significant uncertainty of their environmental properties and risks to humans creates a need for companies to assess sustainability of their products. Evaluation of the potential benefits and risks to build a coherent story for communication with clients, authorities, consumers, and other stakeholders is getting to be increasingly important, but SMEs often lack the knowledge and expertise to assess risks and communicate them appropriately. This paper introduces LICARA nanoSCAN, a modular web based tool that supports SMEs in assessing benefits and risks associated with new or existing nanoproducts. This tool is unique because it is scanning both the benefits and risks over the nanoproducts life cycle in comparison to a reference product with a similar functionality in order to enable the development of sustainable and competitive nanoproducts. SMEs can use data and expert judgment to answer mainly qualitative and semi-quantitative questions as a part of tool application. Risks to public, workers and consumers are assessed, while the benefits are evaluated for economic, environmental and societal opportunities associated with the product use. The tool provides an easy way to visualize results as well as to identify gaps, missing data and associated uncertainties. The LICARA nanoSCAN has been positively evaluated by several companies and was tested in a number of case studies. The tool helps to develop a consistent and comprehensive argument on the weaknesses and strengths of a nanoproduct that may be valuable for the communication with authorities, clients and among stakeholders in the value chain. LICARA nanoSCAN identifies areas for more detailed assessments, product design improvement or application of risk mitigation measures.
authors.affiliation: TNO, Climate, Air and Sustainability, P.O. Box 80015, NL-3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Toon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Harmelen
authors.affiliation: TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands. Electronic address: esther.zondervan@tno.nl.
authors.forename: Esther K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Zondervan-van den Beuken
authors.affiliation: TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands; University of the Witwatersrand, School of Public Health, 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Derk H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.affiliation: TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eelco
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuijpers
authors.affiliation: TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fransman
authors.affiliation: TNO, Risk Analysis for Products In Development, P.O. Box 360, NL-3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harrie B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Buist
authors.affiliation: TNO, Climate, Air and Sustainability, P.O. Box 80015, NL-3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tom N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Ligthart
authors.affiliation: Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hincapié
authors.affiliation: Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hischier
authors.affiliation: US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 696 Virginia Rd., Concord, MA 01742, USA; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Linkov
authors.affiliation: Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nowack
authors.affiliation: Informatics and Sustainability Research Group, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.affiliation: Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland; Informatics and Sustainability Research Group, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hilty
authors.affiliation: Technology and Society Lab, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Som
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D049329:Nanostructures; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012984:Software; D035501:Uncertainty
keywords: Benefit assessment; Decision-making tool; Life Cycle Assessment; Nanoproducts; Risk assessment; Sustainable nanotechnology