Research needs and mapping

The main funded research initiatives on the impact of nanotechnology on human health, environment and safety launched at national level, as partnerships or project coordination, are included within the EC Framework Research Programmes and projects funded by some Italian Ministries and Regions and evidently play a leading role in research on Occupational Health and Safety. Since 1984, at the European level, the Framework Programmes (FPs) for Research and Technological Development have been the main financial tool created by the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, to support and encourage research on technological innovations based on transnational collaboration in the European Research Area. Over the last 25 years, seven FPs have taken place: the FP7, the last one, started in 2007 and will run until 2013. A number of Italian organizations are getting involved in the funded research projects focused on the impact of nanotechnology on environment, health and safety (EHS) and, as a consequence, on occupational health and safety. Within FP6, the Italian partners were involved in 7 research projects out of 15 addressing the impact of nanotechnology on health and safety, and within FP7, Italian organizations took part in 4 out of 10 projects launched from 2007 until September 2009. Within the last three FPs (1998-2009), 12 out of a total of 28 funded projects involved Italian partners. All the 19 Italian partnerships are developed by 16 different organizations (some of them participating in more than one of them). Public Research Entities account for 43% of the partnerships, private companies for 38% and non-governmental organizations (NGO) for 19%. As for the financial plan, more than 50% of the funding for the research on the EHS impact of nanotechnology have been allocated to projects involving at least one Italian partner. Initiatives funded by some Italian Regions are also worth mentioning: Lombardy Region launched the “Nanoscience for materials and biomedical applications” project and the European Centre of Nanomedicine Foundation (CEN); Piedmont Region launched the “NANOSAFE” and “Cytotoxic and genotoxic damage of nano and micro silica particles: molecular basis and strategies for prevention and inactivation” and “Biocompatible, nanostructured materials for biomedical applications”; Veneto Region has funded 6 projects in concert with the Nanotech Veneto District, launched in 2005. From 2004 up to 2009, the Ministry of Education, University and research assigned approximately 650.000 Euros to 5 projects addressing the impact of nanomaterials on the human health, the molecular mechanism underlying cellular response, the interactions with biological systems, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity mechanisms, physical and chemical testing and toxicity studies of in vivo and in vitro models. Finally, the Ministry of Health assigned an amount of 465.000 Euros to the “Nano-OSH Italia” project within the announcement of 2006 strategic health research programme coordinated by ISPESL: this project which is expected to run until 2011 aims at developing an innovative approach for a preventive assessment of workplace exposure to the functionalized carbon nanotubes.