About PROSPECT

PROSPECT is a public/private partnership dedicated to supporting the safe and responsible exploitation of nanomaterials, and developing a better understanding of their impact on humans and the environment.

PROSPECT has been created and is coordinated by the Nanotechnology Industries Association.

PROSPECT has been devised to build on the seminal work and recommendations of the UK Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering report on the opportunities and challenges posed by nanotechnologies.

The programme provides a direct contribution to the global safety assessment of nanomaterials described by the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN).

It is designed to develop essential test methods and data on two nanomaterials that are of particular commercial relevance to the UK.

The project will innovate the scientific foundations for adapting or creating test methods that enable the ecotoxicological hazard assessment of nanomaterials.

The target particles (CeO2 and ZnO) are part of a list of 14 nanomaterials, identified as commercially relevant to the global economic impact of nanotechnology.

The development of methods to characterize CeO2 and ZnO nanomaterials in concert with parallel and coordinated development for other nanomaterials across the OECD testing program will enable the future establishment of QSARs (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) for predictive safety evaluations of novel nanomaterials.

The resulting scientific advancement will help to secure an economic future for the commercialisation of nanotechnologies in and by the UK and provide crucial UK leadership and information to the OECD's global programme on nanomaterials safety assessment.

PROSPECT is a project facilitated through the officially-recognised Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC).