NAMs refers to a wide variety of methods for testing and assessing chemicals that do not use experiments on animals or humans. As well as gradually replacing animal testing, these methods can contribute to improved safety assessments by using models that better simulate conditions in humans.
NAMs can be performed in test tubes, culture dishes, or using software. NAM-based approaches offer great potential for assessing the safety of nanotechnology since in many cases traditional methods cannot easily be adapted to address nanoscale hazards. In particular, their use in the first steps of a risk assessment A specialised field of applied science that involves reviewing scientific data and studies in order to evaluate risks associated with certain hazards. It involves four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation can minimise the need for additional animal studies.
Advances in science and technology are stimulating a flood of these approaches, however few of them have been validated according to international standards for use in regulatory risk assessments.
O artigo foi publicado originalmente em EFSA.