Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

On June 30, 2025, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report entitled 2D Titanium Carbide MXenes: Case Study Report on Advanced Materials. Within OECD’s Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN), the Steering Group on Advanced Materials conducted a case study on the potential issues of 2D titanium carbide MXenes. The report describes MXenes as “a group of [two-dimensional (2D)] advanced materials composed of transition metal carbides or...

On June 11, 2025, the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) published a position paper entitled Bridging the Governance Gap: Divergent EU Approaches to Nano and Advanced Materials that highlights industry challenges with divergent approaches to nano and advanced materials in the European Union (EU). NIA notes that the EU “is at a critical juncture in the approach that it takes towards nano and other advanced materials.” According to NIA, with the European Commission’s (EC)...

On May 20, 2025, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) announced the release of a report entitled Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (2025): Securing U.S. Global Leadership Through Renewed and Expanded Infrastructure. Requested by Congress as part of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, the report focuses on the infrastructure of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). The Committee on the Quadrennial Review...

On June 19 to June 20, 2025, the European Union (EU) Horizon Europe projects ACCORDs, iCare, MACRAMÉ, and nanoPASS are hosting a joint summit to address the needs of industry and regulators in assessing the safety and sustainability of advanced materials. The summit will feature discussions, latest method developments, and direct engagement with regulators, scientists, and industry professionals. Key sessions will focus on regulatory challenges, scientific developments, and pathways towards...

On April 8, 2025, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “A Qualification System to Accelerate Development and Regulatory Implementation of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)” by Andrea Haase, Ph.D., German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Shirin M. Usmani, Ph.D., BfR, Irene Cattaneo, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Maria Chiara Astuto, EFSA, and Francesco Cubadda, Ph.D., National Institute of Health (ISS). The authors...

On April 3, 2024, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) began a public consultation on its preliminary opinion on the safety of hydroxyapatite (nano) in oral products. The EC asked SCCS if it considers hydroxyapatite (nano) safe when used in toothpaste up to a maximum concentration of 29.5 percent and in mouthwash up to a maximum concentration of ten percent according to the specifications as reported in the submission, taking into account reasonably...

On February 6, 2025, the European Union (EU) Advocate General (EU AG) recommended that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturn the 2022 decision of the General Court annulling the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court annulled the European Commission’s (EC) decision to classify titanium dioxide as a suspected human carcinogen. The French...

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials and Advanced Materials between July 2023 and June 2024 -- Tour de Table (Tour de Table). Below are highlights on international developments from the Tour de Table: Canada continues with the risk assessments of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide at the nanoscale that are in commerce in Canada, to evaluate their potential for environmental and...

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials and Advanced Materials between July 2023 and June 2024 -- Tour de Table (Tour de Table). The Tour de Table lists U.S. developments on the human health and environmental safety of nanomaterials. Risk assessment decisions, including the type of nanomaterials assessed, testing recommended, and outcomes of the assessment include: The U.S....

On December 19, 2024, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) released The National Nanotechnology Initiative Supplement to the President’s 2025 Budget, which also serves as the annual report for the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). According to the report, President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget requests over $2.2 billion for NNI, with cumulative funding totaling over $45 billion since the inception of NNI in 2001 when Congress approved increased funding for...