INERIS is the French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks, located 50 km North of Paris. INERIS is a state own private company as it is a public body placed under supervision by the Ministry for Ecology but having the capability to work for private bodies. 25% of INERIS budget comes from private contracts. INERIS aim is to provide science-based expertise on sustainability, industrial safety and safer innovation. It provides decision-support to public (e.g. Ministry) and private (e.g. industry) entities, as well as to other stakeholders (NGOs). INERIS fields of expertise cover all aspects of hazard, risk and safety assessment for environmental and human assets, in relation to chemical substances, including nanomaterials and their industrial processes. The 600 people of INERIS work on: accident risks (so-called Seveso facilities) and related physical hazards (flammability, explosibility, dustiness...), environmental health and safety (toxicology, eco-toxicology, metrology, sanitary impact evaluation, environmental impact prediction and decision making-SEA/ CBA) and identification and prevention of emerging risks such as endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials, green and white technologies.
In INERIS a dedicated TaskForce was specifically built in order to combine several activities and especially those related to risk assessment of nanomaterials :
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hazard characterization, in particular experimental and predictive toxicology, eco-toxicology and safety
parameters (explosibility, flammability, dustiness, electrical charging),
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life cycle analysis of nanomaterials along the value chain (production, integration, use, end of life), in
particular NOAA emissivity under mechanical, environmental or chemical stresses, waste leachate, BAT
of waste valorization especially incineration or recycling strategies and processes,
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on-line and off-line metrology for physical and chemical properties, characterization of workplace exposure up to voluntary certification scheme, in particular for workers, HSE department, emergency
department but also for BAT in collective protection barriers at the workplace,
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industrial safety and industrial fate : control banding and integrated risk assessment to identify, assess and manage accidental and chronic exposure scenarios that can have an impact on workers, populations and environment, with a specific focus on monitoring at and around industrial up to prediction modelling
(near field to regional scale).
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life Cycle Analysis & Assessment through Cost-Benefice-Analysis, technical and economic analysis of
nanotechnology innovation management in the frame of new market or in substitution studies,
This knowledge in nanotechnology risk assessment is always updated by French and European applied research programs. INERIS is the coordinator of the H2020 NANOREG II project involving 38 partners and granted at 10M . Moreover INERIS is involved in European projects related to nanomaterials since 2006
such as NanoSAFE 2, SAPHIR, NanoDEVICE, NanoST AIR, NANoREG, NanoMILE, NanoFOL, SCAFFOLD, MARINA, DEMCAMER, SANOWORK, Q-NANO, MODENA or NANOFASE.
This knowledge is also used for providing expertise to public authorities and to industrial partners and for trainings and disseminating to public bodies such as NGOs.
Concerning the support to authorities, apart being the reference body for the French ministry, INERIS is involved in both Risk Assessment and Socio-Economic Assessment comities of ECHA, in its working group on grouping and in the task force on IUCLID upgrade, but also at OECD level in several Working parties and expert comities. INERIS is also involved in several standardization comity in European M461 mandate, is convener of the CEN TC 352 WG1 related to metrology for the nanotechnologies, leader of a project of standards on hazard characterization (flammability and explosibility of nanopowders) and technical expert in several projects: mesurand definition, life cycle, industrial waste management, risk management and nano-responsibility.