Prévention du risque chimique

New products containing nanomaterials are constantly being released to the market and used for diverse purposes. As a result, growing amounts of products containing nanomaterials enter the end-of-life phase of the lifecycle and are disposed.

Nanowaste in solid or liquid form is currently treated as normal waste and is hence disposed via the existing waste management systems. Also, nanowaste may enter the environment directly through littering.

Prevention of littering and illegal dumping of waste is generally achieved through good practices in waste management and education. However, to date there is little knowledge on the environmental release of nanomaterials from waste.

Mercury pollution threatens the environment and human health across the globe. Mercury is a highly toxic substance that has found uses in many places throughout industry, including coal mining, small-scale gold mining, some agricultural activities, and various metallurgic processes.