Comptes Rendus
no. 7
Towards a nanorisk appraisal framework
[Vers un référentiel pour évaluer le « nano-risque »]
Rye Senjen1  ; Steffen Foss Hansen2
1 School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
2 DTU Environment, Technical University of Denmark, DTU-Building 113, Kgs. Lyngby, DK-2800, Denmark
Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 12 (2011) no. 7, pp. 637-647.

Cet article est une discussion sur des concepts habituellement utilisés dans le cadre du risque chimique, lorsquʼil sʼagit dʼévaluer les risques liés aux nanotechnologies, que nous appellerons, nanorisques. Le nanorisque peut être défini suivant des perspectives variées depuis celle, restreinte, du risque éco-toxicologique à celle plus large de lʼimpact sociétal ou culturel, voire sous lʼangle plus philosophique du questionnement de la pertinence du besoin en technologies de la société. Nous résumerons les limitations des évaluations du type « risque chimique » et de celles dʼautres schémas de gouvernance des risques récemment proposés en relation avec les nanotechnologies ou les nanomatériaux, en particulier leur incapacité à prendre en compte le risque « sociétal » (propriété de technologies, vie privée, sécurité, « fracture nano »,2 convergence nano-bio, etc.) et le risque « métaphysique » (notamment lʼavis du profane sur ces risques). Finalement, nous définirons les principes fondamentaux et les critères sur lesquels un cadre prenant en compte lʼensemble de ces questions devrait être fondé.

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The article discusses, in the context of nanotechnology, whether current concepts of chemical risk assessment can be used to assess nanorisk. Nanorisk can be defined from the narrow (eco)toxicological perspective to the broader sense to include societal/cultural impacts or even to the fundamental philosophical level, i.e. questioning societies need for the technology. We outline here the limitations of chemical risk assessment and other recent proposed risk governance paradigms in relation to nanotechnology and nanomaterials, including its inability to include societal risks (ownership, privacy, security, nanodivide,1 convergence of nano-, bio-, etc.) and metaphysical risk (including the lay persons perspective on the risks of nanotechnology). Finally, we outline the fundamental principles and criteria that an alternative comprehensive framework should be based on.

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Publié le :
DOI : 10.1016/j.crhy.2011.06.005
Keywords: Nanotechnology, Nanomaterials, Risk appraisal framework, Types of knowledge, Types of risk, Metaphysical risk
Mot clés : Nanotechnologie, Nanomatériaux, Cadre dʼévaluation des risques, Types de connaissance, Types de risque, Risque métaphysique
Rye Senjen 1 ; Steffen Foss Hansen 2

1 School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
2 DTU Environment, Technical University of Denmark, DTU-Building 113, Kgs. Lyngby, DK-2800, Denmark 
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Rye Senjen; Steffen Foss Hansen. Towards a nanorisk appraisal framework. Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 12 (2011) no. 7, pp. 637-647. doi : 10.1016/j.crhy.2011.06.005. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/physique/articles/10.1016/j.crhy.2011.06.005/

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