The NanoHarmony project aims to map the barriers and challenges in terms of translating excellent science into useful regulatory tools. The pathway from scientific discovery, through the formal process of developing test guidance and then on to its use in regulatory compliance can involve many different steps and many people face significant barriers. This can prevent or at least delay scientific discovery from being used in guidance that would help industry and regulators in bringing new products and processes to market.
Guidance on regulatory compliance often makes use of test guidelines (TGs) and guidance documents (GDs) of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Developing a new OECD TG or GD can take several years and can be a challenging process. NanoHarmony’s main aim is to support the development of OECD TGs and GDs for eight endpoints where nanomaterial adapted test methods have been identified as a regulatory priority. Alongside this, the project is looking to create guidance for the development of other TGs and GDs in the future that will create a more efficient pathway for people in developing these. To help learn best practice in this area, the NanoHarmony project would like to hear from stakeholders about their experiences around TGs and GDs by asking people to share their experiences in a short survey. Your participation will provide valuable information and help to the project and is vital in understanding the barriers in the TGs and GDs process and how these can be best overcome. The survey should take between ten and twenty minutes and the number of questions vary between 12 and 28 depending on your role in the TGs/ GDs process. Participation is anonymous.
Many thanks for helping NanoHarmony and sparing some of your valuable time in helping. The deadline to complete the survey was 1 October 2021.
More on OECD TGs/GDS can be found at https://www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/testing/oecd-guidelines-testing-chemicals-related-documents.htm.