In light of the potential long-term societal and economic benefits of novel nano-enabled products, there is an evident need for research and development to focus on closing the gap in nano-materials (NMs) safety. Concurrent reflection on the impact of decision-making tools, which may lack the capability to assist sophisticated judgements around the risks and benefits of the introduction of novel products (or pilot production lines), is essential. This paper addresses the potential for extant decision support tools to default to a precautionary principle position in the face of uncertainty. A more utilitarian-based approach could be facilitated by adding simple methods to formulate realistic hypotheses, which would assist non-specialists to make more nuanced decisions in terms of managing the risks of introducing new NMs. A decision support analytical framework is applied to identify the potential risks and benefits of novel nano-enabled products such as textiles with in-built enhanced antimicrobial activity for the prevention of nosocomial infections produced by spray or sonochemical coating possesses. While the results demonstrate valuable societal and environmental benefits compared to conventional products, due to uncertainty regarding the possible hazard to humans, sizable risks were identified in some cases due to the precautionary principle.

鉴于新型纳米产品具有潜在的长期社会和经济效益，显然需要研究和开发以缩小纳米材料 (NM) 安全性方面的差距。必须同时反思决策工具的影响，因为决策工具可能缺乏协助围绕引入新产品（或试生产线）的风险和收益的复杂判断的能力。本文探讨了现有决策支持工具在面对不确定性时默认采取预防原则立场的可能性。通过添加简单的方法来制定现实的假设，可以促进更加实用的方法，这将有助于非专家在管理引入新 NM 的风险方面做出更细微的决定。应用决策支持分析框架来确定新型纳米产品的潜在风险和益处，例如具有内置增强抗菌活性的纺织品，以预防由喷雾或声化学涂层产生的医院感染。虽然结果表明与传统产品相比具有宝贵的社会和环境效益，但由于不确定可能对人类造成的危害，由于预防原则，在某些情况下确定了相当大的风险。