Sector/material specific evaluations of future products/uses The scope for this task was too general to be useful for specific methods or for understanding trends in specific material uses. One commenter made the point that within the classification of SiO2 there were a wide range of forms and uses that ranged from property enhancing fillers for polymers to specific catalysts for chemical synthesis. These two categories alone for one MNM may have dramatically different innovation pipelines, measurement requirements, and toxicity profiles. Furthermore, the experts for each use type may be in quite different fields (e.g., coating/pigment development vs chemical engineering) with specific trade associations and regulatory oversight. For these reasons, a similar style discussion forum with a much more focused material forms or use types should be developed for key MNM sectors. The breadth of the scope of Task 2.3 also made it difficult to differentiate foresight for future uses. Responses for “what are the future uses” of each of the MNM types in the first round of the Delphi forum gave histograms that essentially said all uses may increase and all exposures would increase (Figure 38 and Figure 39). Figure 38 Where will use at least double for nanoscale Silicon Dioxide in the next 5-10 years? Figure 39 Where will exposure to nanoscale Silicon Dioxide change in the next 5-10 years? It may be possible to further differentiate the responses across expertise levels as capture in the Delphi forum to refine the data. As seen in the differentiation of responses in Figure 40, Figure 41 and Figure 42, the responses of differing sectors and regions may be informative with regard to further discussions that are needed. However, the numbers of responses (and the limitations of the questions that were asked) make it difficult to elaborate further. Therefore, further Delphi style discussions are recommended with more specific MNM form focus for these questions as well. Figure 40 Where will use at least double for nanoscale Silicon Dioxide in the next 5-10 years? (grouped by employment sector) Figure 41 Where will use at least double for nanoscale Silicon Dioxide in the next 5-10 years (grouped by region) Figure 42 Where is likely that biologically relevant exposure may occur to nanoscale Silicon Dioxide as it was manufactured?
