NANOmaterials: STRategies for Safety Assessments in advanced Integrated Circuits Manufacturing

ended

The semiconductor industry uses a growing variety of materials, as companies seek to further improve devices’ performance to meet increasing market demand in a constant process of innovation. Understanding properties of these innovative materials and nanoforms, and how they behave in living systems, such as the human body, often comes years after the materials have been adopted. Such an inherent uncertainty brings about multiple challenges in the governance of the occupational and environmental risks. This is a common challenge of many technology-intensive sectors, which requires a systematic risk reduction approach. So the application of precautionary approach is warranted for the production process. The high level objectives of the NanoStreeM project are to (i) build inventories of materials, and research directions relevant for nanomaterial use and exposure in nano- electronics manufacturing; (ii) identify gaps in knowledge and methodologies to assess the risk of engineered or accidentally produced nanomaterials (iii) promote open communication with stakeholders to support informed decision making and governance of the risks related to handling of nanomaterials in the semiconductor fabrication process. Planned activities aim to identify best practices used within the industry to control emerging hazards and cross-fertilize with emerging academic approaches in nanosafety. The project will also enable the semiconductor industry to share and benchmark its approach with other sectors for mutual benefit.