In the light of current knowledge and opinions of the EU Scientific and Advisory Committees and independent risk assessors, nanomaterials are similar to normal chemicals/substances in that some may be toxic and some may not. Products underpinned by nanotechnology are forecast to grow from a global volume of €200 billion in 2009 to €2 trillion by 2015. Those applications have the potential to create major technological breakthroughs, and therefore nanomaterials have been identified as a key enabling technology. However, many medical and technical applications such as tumour therapies, lithium-ion batteries which can drive electrical cars, or solar panels also exist. Those include a number of consumer products such as UV-filters in sun creams and anti-odour textiles. In the past years, many new nanomaterial-related applications have been developed. It is still dominated by materials which have been in use for decades, such as carbon black (mainly used in tyres) or synthetic amorphous silica (used in a wide variety of applications including tyres, as polymer filler but also in toothpaste or as anticoagulant in food powders). The current direct employment in the nanomaterial sector is estimated at 300,000 to 400,000 in Europe. The global market for nanomaterials is estimated at 11 million tonnes at a market value of €20 billion. Nanomaterials as defined in a 2011 Commission Recommendation, are materials which often have specific properties due to their small particle size.
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