In 2020, the OECD released a new set of guidelines for the assessment of fate and ecotoxicity of nanomaterial, one of which is the guidance document (GD) No. 317. It deals with aquatic and sediment ecotoxicity testing of nanomaterials (NM). The document provides instructions on conduction of the ecotoxicity assessment as well as guidance for the practical handling of NM during ecotoxicity studies.

Watch the Nanomet Webinar on GD No. 317 to get further details:



The document itself is an important guide for harmonizing experimental procedures (identifying and developing standardized methods) with NMs. This is because actual OECD test guidelines on ecotoxicity testing, e.g. OECD No. 201 (testing with green algae Desemodesmus sp.), etc…., are lacking for information about the special needs when testing NM (e.g. preparation of the NM dispersion). Thus, the GD No. 317 aims to contribute generating relevant and reliable ecotoxicity data on NM.

Readers will find NM specific support for:
– analytical and measurement techniques
– NM dispersion preparation
– conduct of tests including e.g. specific adaptions of particular test guideline (for example OECD TG 201
– data analysis and relevant reporting

Since the work with different NM cannot be easily generalized, multiple decision trees are embedded in the GD 317. These standardize and thereby facilitate decision processes, allowing for comparable results among different laboratories testing same materials.
Towards the end of January 2021 the collaborators (OECD Programme on Manufactured Nanomaterials and the OECD Test Guidelines Programme) introduced the GD No. 317 to interested researches and regulators of the field. The respective webinar was recorded and put online. We embedded this webinar for you (above). The presentation itself can be found at the NANOMET page or here .


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Title picture Republica on Pixabay