European forest products industry has a unique relationship with environmental problems. Its main raw material is renewable biological material-wood, which can recycle fiber products and store carbon dioxide as renewable energy. To a great extent, the competitiveness of European forest products industry depends on its responsible management of natural resources and its safe and environmentally friendly product manufacturing methods. In the past 20 years, we have invested heavily in environmental protection measures to achieve sustainable development, including improving the utilization rate of recycled paper, devoting ourselves to the principles of environment, health and safety, reducing the emissions of air, water and waste, and striving to improve energy efficiency.

Recent reports in Europe reveal the potential risks associated with nanotechnology in detail (Royal Society and Royal Institute of Engineering, Hett, 2004, 2004; Luther, 2004). A basic aspect of nanotechnology is to use miniaturization to reach the nanometer level in order to obtain the characteristics of new materials. Any material reduced to the size of nanoparticles or nanotubes can suddenly become a material with brand-new characteristics. This makes nano-materials used in new fields and favored by industrial products.

Due to the relatively large surface area of nanoparticles, this increased reactivity makes substances that were previously considered completely harmless also dangerous. For example, this can be compared with previous studies on the impact of air pollution caused by nanoparticles on human health, which has triggered a debate on the possible health and environmental risks brought by nanotechnology.

The report of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering (2004) concludes that most nanotechnology will not bring new health and safety risks, and reports that the current health, safety and environmental risks are limited to the independent manufacture of nanoparticles and nanotubes in a free rather than embedded way.

In order to use nanotechnology in a responsible way, Council of Europe emphasized the following activities (2004):

▼ Identify and recognize security issues (real or potential) at the earliest possible stage;

▼ Emphasize the need to integrate comprehensive support research on health, environment and risks into specific R&D activities;

▼ Support the generation of toxicological and ecotoxicological data (including dose-response data) and assess the potential exposure risks of human body and environment.