NanoScienceWorks

Environmental Defense

Environmental Defense (formerly known as Environmental Defense Fund or EDF) is a US-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and human health. It is nonpartisan, and its work often advocates market-based solutions to environmental problems.

Environmental Defense and DuPont have developed the Nano Risk Framework, a comprehensive, flexible and practical process to identify, manage and reduce potential health, safety and environmental risks of nanoscale materials.

The intent of the framework is to define a systematic and disciplined process that can be used to identify, manage and reduce potential environmental, health and safety risks of nano-scale materials across all lifecycle stages to help ensure that nanotechnology’s benefits are maximized while the potential risks are effectively assessed and managed. According to an announcement, one of the main goals in the development of the framework has been "to do so in an open, transparent manner with other groups, companies and institutions who are also working to assess the potential risks and benefits of nano-materials." They said feedback will enable them to refine the framework to ensure that the final version - scheduled to be released this summer - is a user-friendly, comprehensive tool for businesses, governments, non- profits, university interests and others.

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