The Nanodatabase includes products which either contain nanomaterials or are claimed to be a nano product. All products are readily available to Danish consumers either in stores or via Internet shops. Each product is categorized with a color code consisting of five dots referring to exposure risk and possible hazards the nanomaterials may posses for humans and the environment.

Before you start searching the Nanodatabase and use the information available, there are a few things that you should know.

Products claimed to be “nano” by the producers or the retailers of the products are included in the inventory, but no independent validation of the “nano”-claim has been made.

The products in the Nanodatabase were initially identified by going through a number of product inventories available online in Europe and the US. Thereafter the products availability to consumers in Denmark and the EU was investigated.

Finally, further products were identified via searches in various online webshops as well as on websites of Danish retailers.

It is important to mention though, that the database by no means can be considered complete. In fact, no one knows the number of nano products on the market. The manufacturers of products containing nanoparticles hopefully know whether they use nano or not, but there is no legislation obligating them to label their products.

Dots...

Each product has been assigned a short title describing the use of the nanomaterial and a color code consisting of five dots. The first three dots always refer to the potential for exposure to professional end-users, consumers or the environment in that order, whereas the last two dots always refer to the potential hazards for humans and the environment.

...and colors

The colors signify whether the risk of exposure  or potential effects are high (red), medium (yellow), low (green), or unknown (grey). The color codes have been assigned using the NanoRiskCat framework and the methodology described in the report NanoRiskCat – A Conceptual Decision Support Tool for Nanomaterials by Hansen et al. (2011).  

For more information also see Introduction to NanoRiskCat.

The NanoRiskCat color code provides a preliminary evaluation of the exposure potential and the hazard potential of the nanomaterial used in the specific product. It does not consider exposure and effects from the other constituents and impurities in the product, nor does it take into account the specific amount of nanomaterial in the product.