Die "Nano-Informations-Pyramide" als Ansatz zur Klärung der "No Data, no Market"-Problematik bei Nanotechnologien
Konsumenten wollen wissen, was sie kaufen, Händler, was sie verkaufen, und Verarbeiter und Recycler brauchen Informationen zu den von ihnen bearbeiteten Materialien. Die relevanten Informationen über Nanomaterialien gelangen jedoch oft nicht bis zu diesen Empfängern. Im Anschluss an die lebhaften Debatten während der 5. Int. NanoRegulation Konferenz schlägt die Innovationsgesellschaft mbH (St.Gallen) daher das Denkmodell einer "Nano-Informations-Pyramide" vor, welches die Erkennung und Analyse der kritischen Stellen, Herausforderungen und Verantwortlichkeiten entlang der Lieferkette erleichtern soll.
The big future challenges for the industry, insurances, regulators and authorities will be
- to find appropriate and trustworthy tools to transfer nanospecific data and information along the value chain and to satisfy consumer needs,
- to ensure that the information flow (up and downstream) is not interrupted,
- to allocate costs and responsibilities to the accountable stakeholders.
We hereby suggest a “Nano Information Pyramid” (Fig. 1) which provides an information exchange framework to illustrate the recipient-specific information transfer along the value chain. The Pyramid (left side of the figure) combines different information transfer tools in with the different levels of the value chain (right side of the figure). This is to ensure that nanospecific (and, if necessary, safety relevant) data are transferred in an appropriate form along the value chain. At the critical positions (?) proper information exchange can be guaranteed by implementation of accurate measures like for example Risk Management Systems (RMS) or Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).