The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) Grenoble campus has been developing measures to control exposure to nanoparticles for its in-house needs since 2005. Given the lack of widely-accepted international standards on toxicity, the CEA has always erred on the side of caution, keeping exposure as low as possible. This prevention-based strategy is backed by workstation measurements and audits.

The CEA Grenoble campus has been able to offer extensive know-how in measuring and characterizing nanostructured aerosols since 2009. The methods used were initially developed based on the work of CEA nanosafety researchers and were later modified to meet a broad range of measurement needs in a wide variety of settings. These methods are backed by solid knowledge of occupational health, safety, and environmental issues. The Nanosafety Platform also has access to the CEA Grenoble Nanocharacterization Platform (PFNC). The Nanocharacterization Platform (PFNC) can be used for studies that require additional characterization resources. CEA Grenoble contributed its long-standing experience in this field to the workstation exposure assessment recommendations developed jointly with INRS and INERIS.

To date, the Nanosafety Platform has audited more than 350 workstations, mainly at industrial facilities (production and R&D workstations), but also at academic research labs and other research organizations. Several years ago, the Nanosafety Platform broadened its characterization services to cover environmental testing.