Blogs

On May 26, 2011, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted a document entitled “Current Developments/Activities on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials,” which provides information on the outcomes and developments of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. OECD states that the document “provides a snapshot of information on current/planned activities related to the safety of...

The June 6-8, 2011, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials will include a “Lunch-n-Learn” session on June 6, 2011, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. (EDT). During the luncheon, which will be held in Washington, D.C., in Senate Visitors Center Room 201, TAPPI will introduce a Public-Private-Partnership model and its job creation potential in U.S. utilizing renewable nanocellulose materials. TAPPI will present...

The Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) prepared a May 2, 2011, statement regarding the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment’s (BfR) April 12, 2011, statement concerning consumer products containing nanosilver. SNWG notes that, in December 2009, BfR published an opinion advising against the use of nanosilver in consumer products. Industry and other groups, including SNWG, asked BfR to reconsider its position, and BfR held a workshop on February 17,...

In a May 2011 letter, Representatives Ralph M. Hall (R-TX) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) ask Congressional members to join the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus. The Caucus was formed over ten years ago and is intended to inform legislators about nanotechnology issues, including the effect of nanotechnology on job creation and other economic benefits to the U.S. The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which was codified by Congress in 2003, coordinates the...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a new standard, ISO/TR 13121:2011, which describes a process for identifying, evaluating, addressing, making decisions about, and communicating the potential risks of developing and using manufactured nanomaterials to protect the health and safety of the public, consumers, workers, and the environment.  According to ISO, the standard offers guidance on the information needed to make sound risk evaluations and risk...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is compiling an inventory of nanomaterials included in the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registration dossiers and Classification, Labeling, and Packaging (CLP) notifications for the European Commission (EC), and intends to deliver the inventory by the end of June 2011. The EC requested the inventory in response to the 2009 European Parliament communication on nanomaterials. An ECHA spokesperson stated that...

On May 10, 2011, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a guidance document for the risk assessment of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) applications in food and feed. According to EFSA, the guidance “is the first of its kind to give practical guidance for addressing potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.” The guidance covers risk assessments for food and feed applications, including food additives, enzymes,...

Last week, the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment announced the publication of its “Recommendations for Addressing Potential Health Risks from Nanomaterials in California,” which provides recommendations for addressing potential health risks from nanomaterials to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and to the state of California.  OEHHA contracted with UCSF to prepare the report, which provides...

On May 6, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a final significant new use rule (SNUR) under Section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the chemical substance identified generically as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), which was the subject of premanufacture notice (PMN) P-08-199. Under the final SNUR, persons intending to manufacture, import, or process MWCNT for a use that is designated as a significant new use by the final rule must...

In an important and little noticed May 3, 2011, Federal Register notice, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) International Trade Administration (ITA) requested public comments concerning regulatory cooperation between the U.S. and the European Union (EU) that would help eliminate or reduce unnecessary divergences in regulation and in standards used in regulation that impede U.S. exports.  Of critical importance, the ITA plainly recognizes and acknowledges that the main impediments to...