OECD | Evaluation of Tools and Models Used for Assessing Environmental Exposure to Manufactured Nanomaterials Functional Assessment and Statistical Analysis of Nano-Specific Environmental Exposure Tools and Models

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The work in this report includes the results of two objectives, the first of which is a compilation and prioritization of available tools and models for nanomaterial exposure characterizations. Additionally, the work in this report contains the results of the second objective that is a functional assessment and statistical analysis of a prioritized selection of the models compiled from the first objective. The compilation of models was completed as an Excel spreadsheetcontaining summary details on a list of 24 models and tools including Material Flow Analysis (MFA) models, Environmental Fate Models (EFM), and spatially explicit river models. Models were prioritized and selected for further evaluation using a set of prioritization criteria. The prioritized models were then subjected to a functional assessment and statistical analysis. The functional assessment presents details of the models and tools that include installation, user requirements, data requirements, input parameters, model outputs, assumptions made, and algorithms used. The statistical analysis contains two types of analyses: an uncertainty analysis conducted using Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) and a systematic sensitivity analysis using a standard sensitivity score. Default scenarios were chosen for each model or tool, and a set of input parameters were chosen for uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.