Blogs

Lynn L. Bergeson will participate in a February 7, 2012, Bloomberg BNA webinar entitled “The Greening of Consumer Products:  Legal, Regulatory, and Strategic Considerations.” Bloomberg BNA states that the webinar is intended to help users: Identify the core concepts of green product development and the maturation of conventional environmental protection themes on which green product steward concepts rely; Describe the diversity of legal and regulatory authorities, domestic and...

The NanoBusiness Commercialization Association, North Carolina Department of Commerce, and Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology will co-host the Nanotech Commercialization Conference on April 4-5, 2012, in Research Triangle, North Carolina. Lynn L. Bergeson will speak at the Conference, which will include: National-level keynote speakers; Sessions, workshops, and exhibits showcasing the latest advances in the field; Discussions on financing, licensing, and business...

On December 30, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterial Risks More Effectively. According to OIG, the purpose of its review was to determine how effectively EPA is managing the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials. OIG states that it found “that EPA does not currently have sufficient information or processes to effectively manage the human health and...

As You Sow, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has published a framework providing guidelines intended for food and food packaging companies to assess exposure to and potential risks from food and food packaging products containing nanomaterials. According to As Your Sow, more than a dozen food companies, scientific organizations, and investor groups reviewed the framework, including:  Kraft, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Whole Foods, and Yum! Brands; the Center for Food Safety,...

A coalition of nonprofit consumer safety and environmental groups sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on December 21, 2011.  The coalition is led by the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), and includes Friends of the Earth, Food and Water Watch, the Center for Environmental Health, the ETC Group, and the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy. ICTA states that its lawsuit “demands” FDA...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on December 28, 2011, proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) for 17 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN). Of particular interest, seven of the PMN substances’ reported chemical names include the term “carbon nanotube” (CNT) or “CNT.”  EPA states that because of a lack of established nomenclature for CNTs, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory names for CNTs are...

On December 20, 2011, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced it issued the world’s first reference material for single-wall carbon nanotube soot.  According to NIST, “nanotube-laden soot is the primary industrial source of single-wall carbon nanotubes, perhaps the archetype of all nanoscale materials.” NIST states that the new material “offers companies and researchers a badly needed source of uniform and well-characterized carbon nanotube soot...

The European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution on December 15, 2011, stating that nanomaterials must be covered by current European Union (EU) health and safety rules, based on a mid-term review of the EU’s 2007-2012 health and safety at work strategy. The resolution, which was adopted with 371 votes in favor, 47 against, and 15 abstentions, also calls for the assessment of the effects of new technologies on health. The EP calls for legislation to ensure that nanomaterials are covered by...

apan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) established a Committee on Safety Management for Nanomaterials, which was scheduled to hold its first meeting on December 2, 2011. METI states that it established the Committee “on the basis of the results obtained from the project ‘Research and Development of Nanoparticle Characterization Methods’ commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the latest scientific knowledge.”  The...

On November 23, 2011, the European Union (EU) Council’s committee of the permanent representatives of each member state (COREPER) approved the compromise agreement on the proposed EU biocidal products regulation that would repeal and replace the biocidal products Directive 98/8/EC. Under the compromise reached by the EU Council and the European Parliament (EP), biocides would be reviewed regularly, with approvals or renewals valid for a maximum of ten years, and less for...