The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides scientific support to European Union policy including nanotechnology. Within this context, the JRC launched, in February 2011, a repository for Representative Test Materials (RTMs), based on preparatory work started in 2008. It supports both EU and international research projects, and especially the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN). The WPMN leads an exploratory testing programme "Testing a Representative set of Manufactured Nanomaterials" for the development and collection of data on characterisation, toxicological and ecotoxicological properties, as well as risk assessment and safety evaluation of nanomaterials. The purpose is to understand the applicability of the OECD Test Guidelines for the testing of nanomaterials as well as end-points relevant for such materials.
The Repository responds to a need for nanosafety research purposes: availability of nanomaterial from a single production batch to enhance the comparability of results between different research laboratories and projects. The availability of representative nanomaterials to the international scientific community furthermore enhances and enables development of safe materials and products.
The present report presents the physico-chemical characterisation of the synthetic amorphous silicon dioxide (SiO2, SAS) from the JRC repository: NM-200, NM-201, NM-202, NM-203 and NM-204. NM-200 was selected as principal material for the OECD test programme "Testing a representative set of manufactured nanomaterials".
NM-200, NM-201 and NM-204 (precipitated SAS) are produced via the precipitation process, whereas NM-202 and NM-203 (fumed or pyrogenic SAS) are produced via a high temperature process. Each of these NMs originates from one respective batch of commercially manufactured SAS. They are nanostructured, i.e. they consist of aggregated primary particles. The SAS NMs may be used as a representative material in the measurement and testing with regard to hazard identification, risk and exposure assessment studies.
The results for more than 15 endpoints are addressed in the present report, including physical-chemical properties, such as size and size distribution, crystallite size and electron microscopy images. Sample and test item preparation procedures are addressed. The results are based on studies by several European laboratories participating to the NANOGENOTOX Joint Action, as well as the JRC.JRC.I.4-Nanobioscience
