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Survey of nanotcnological consumer products 5 Conclusions5.1 Results of the surveyThe trade associations and the Danish nano research institutions have great expectations to business-to-business products and to consumer products. Presently, there are only Danish manufactorers who formulate products containing nanomaterials. Based on interviews, searches of importers and distributors in the Woodrow Wilson database and of web shops selling these products in Denmark showed that in general approximately two out of three American registered consumer products totally 243 out of 356 are for sale in Denmark. Products especially within the areas of surface treatment, cosmetics and sports equipment are marketed. In the market for surface treatment of car and house items, which is very dynamic in Denmark, considerably more products have been surveyed in Denmark than have been registered in the USA. More than two thirds of the products on the Danish market – 154 pcs. - are different liquid products partly for surface treatment of a great number of materials such as glass, concrete, metal (especially car maintenance) glass fibres and textiles, partly skin protection products, especially sun lotions. The remaining products are especially sporting goods- and clothing, in which the nanomaterial is encapsulated in the surface of the product, e.g. golf balls. No products containing free airborne nanoparticles were found. More than half of the consumer products on the Danish market are products from Europe. Of the 135 European products on the Danish market, almost 100 come from Germany. The remaining comes from England, Finland and France. Three of them are formulated in Denmark. In 202 out of 243 products it was not possible within this project to identify the nanomaterials in the product. However, of the 41 known nanomaterials, half of them were found in cosmetics products (six products with zinc oxide and 13 with titanium dioxide[7]), 10 with antibacterial silver[8] in textiles and kitchen appliances, and 12 with carbon dioxide tubes or balls (seven with carbon tubes in sporting goods and five with fullerenes[9] in cosmetics). A great part of the consumer products are sold from web shops in Denmark and abroad, especially products for surface treatment within the product categories `car accessories’, home and gardening’ and health and fitness, whereas a lesser part are found in Danish shops. A special example is paints. In certain black paints are applied ‘carbon black’ (20-100 nm) as colouring agent, and paints with the thickening silica in nano size (down to approx. 10 nm). Both these materials have been used for a number of years, but are now recognized as nanomaterials. The individual products containing these materials have not been calculated. 5.2 Consumer exposure to products containing nanomaterialsNo consumer products with free airborne nanoparticles have been foundd. An assessment shows that the risk of exposure to the consumers is greatest from products of the category ‘Nanoparticles suspended in liquids’, because it is a liquid product for e.g. surface treatment or cosmetic application to the skin. Products in spray form must be expected to cause exposure both by inhalation and by dermal contact – however, only four spray products were found (with pumps, not with propellants.) According to the actors of the market, nanomaterials do no appear in the products in concentrations demanding labelling or classification. Thus, there is no available information on the active nanomaterial in the products.In cosmetics all ingredients must be declared, but there is no requirement to disclose whether the substance is on nanoform. 5.3 What are the overall expectations?The Danish development companies do not launch products directly aiming at the retail trade, and the Danish consumers will instead be affected by the development of the markets in the USA, Asia and other EU countries, especially Germany. Based on the development in the USA we can expect a quick introduction of products based on nanomaterials or nanotechnology in trades characterized by high demands of material’s performance and/or keen competition. In these trades (sports equipment, cosmetics, domestic appliances, electronics and textiles) a technological ascendancy can provide market advantages. Today, nanomaterials are typically expensive and are used in ‘high-end’-products, but the prices of for example carbon tubes to be mixed in the plastic materials to increase the strength are already decreasing and this may extend the application segment. Also the many products for surface treatments generally will undoubtedly be widely applied, if the expectations to the effects of the products are fulfilled. Many producers of cosmetics seem to launch products containing nanotechnology, especially liposomes, fullerenes and sunscreens. The categories electronics and kitchen appliances also aim at nanotechnology, especially antibacterial coatings/treatments for washing machines and refrigerators. Footnotes[7] Titanium dioxide is used as a UV blocker in sunscreens. It was assessed by the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) to be safe for consumers when used in sunscreens in concentrations up to 25% regardless of the particle size. Zinc oxide is not allowed for use as a UV filter in cosmetic products because sufficient documentation has not been presented to the SCCP. [8] Silver in a nanoform is used as a biocide. Biocidal silver is under EU risk assessment. [9] The European Commission has decided that fullerenes must be treated as a ‘new’ substance and must be registered. It is assumed that the fullerenes are imported in products, not produced in the EU.
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