January 22, 2008 — The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has launched a range of new services that it hopes will help U.K.-based companies minimize the environmental and health risks of working with nanomaterials. Complementing the IOM’s SAFENANO Information Service and Community Portal, SAFENANO Scientific Services will provide companies producing and using nanotechnologies with “a multidisciplinary range of solutions to ensure they can offer employees a safe and healthy working environment and end products that are safe for customers,” the group says.

SAFENANO Scientific Services, is partly funded by Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian and the Technology Strategy Board. The group’s services include testing, workplace occupational hygiene, toxicology reports and reviews, as well as related training for staff and management to aid companies in the development of effective nanotechnology risk management programs.

SAFENANO Scientific Services is managed by the Institute of Occupational Medicine in partnership with Napier University, which specializes in nanoparticle toxicity assessment.