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Environmental Defense, an environmental advocacy organization, and DuPont, a science-based products and services company, have developed a comprehensive, practical, and flexible Framework for evaluating and addressing the potential risks of nanoscale materials.

The resulting Framework offers a thorough and usable six-step process for organizations to identify, assess and manage potential risks. The six steps within the Framework include: describing the material and the intended application; profiling the material’s lifecycle in this application; evaluating the associated risks; assessing risk management options; deciding and documenting actions; and regularly reviewing new information and adapting actions accordingly.

In an effort to expand the global accessibility of the Nano Risk Framework, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and DuPont released new translations of the Framework in three additional languages – Mandarin, French and Spanish in 2008. The Framework executive summary also is available in Portuguese.