Nano particles, nano risks?: Informatics as a public health prevention tool against emerging hazards of nanotechnologies

(1) Background: As a rapidly growing field of scientific and industrial endeavor, nanotechnologies hold exciting promise for health care, industry and consumer products. However, as with most novel technologies, unknown risks of nanotechnologies test the limits of current regulatory processes, health care systems and public health practices. (2) Objective: The objective of this study is to 1) define the role of informatics as a prevention tool within the context of emerging health risks of nanotechnologies; 2) catalog existing informatics tools and techniques for documenting, monitoring and assessing health implications of nanotechnologies; 3) reach expert consensus on the types of informatics systems and information technologies to fill existing gaps; and 4) arrive at a design of enabling regulatory and legal frameworks and informatics systems. (3) Methods: Thought leaders, scientific experts and policy analysts in the field of nanotechnology were identified through a literature search. Using the Delphi expert consensus technique, experts were encouraged to consider the role of existing informatics and information technologies in the field of nanotechnology and to evaluate their adequacy to monitor, assess and mitigate known and suspected health risks of nanoparticles. After multiple rounds of consensus building, emerging themes were translated into design principles with relevance to legal/regulatory frameworks and informatics systems. (4) Results: Ability to compare scientific studies and risk assessments is weakened by the absence of a classification system for nanoparticles. Epidemiological surveillance among occupational groups is an area of particular paucity and can benefit from exposure registries. (5) Discussion: Serious concerns exist over the inadequacy of current informatics systems in the face of uncertain health hazards of nanotechnologies. Legal frameworks need to be modified to allow tracking of nano-scale ingredients and to correlate them with individual and population level health outcomes. Informatics can contribute tremendously to creation of a unifying taxonomy for classifying nanoparticles.