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The insurability of nanomaterial production risk

Nature Nanotechnology volume 8, pages 222–224 (2013)Cite this article

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Without insurance the long-term sustainability of nanotechnology is questionable, but insurance companies are encumbered by their institutional memory of losses from the asbestos crisis and the absence of suitable actuarial models to measure the potential risks of nanotechnology. Here we propose a framework that supports the transfer of nanomaterial production risk to the insurance sector.

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Figure 1: Control banding for underwriters.

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Acknowledgements

The research leading to this Commentary has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme FP7 under grant agreement no. 280716, Sanowork (www.sanowork.eu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland

    Martin Mullins & Eamonn M. McAlea

  2. McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, 2110 Speedway Stop B6600, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    Finbarr Murphy

  3. Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI), University of Limerick, Ireland

    Lijana Baublyte & Syed A. M. Tofail

  4. Department of Physics and Energy, University of Limerick, Ireland

    Syed A. M. Tofail

Authors
  1. Martin Mullins
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  2. Finbarr Murphy
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  3. Lijana Baublyte
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  5. Syed A. M. Tofail
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Correspondence to Finbarr Murphy.

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The views expressed in this Commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the European Commission.

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Mullins, M., Murphy, F., Baublyte, L. et al. The insurability of nanomaterial production risk. Nature Nanotech 8, 222–224 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.53

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