Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on November 7, 2022, that it published a study on the EU market for nanomaterials, including substances, uses, volumes, and key producers, traders, and users. The study also covers the European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland. EUON states that according to the study, which was carried out in 2021 as a combination of literature research, surveys, and interviews, the European nanomaterial market is...

On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for a number of chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN) and are also subject to Orders issued by EPA pursuant to TSCA. 87 Fed. Reg. 65548. The proposed SNURs include four chemical substances identified as: According to EPA, the PMNs state that the use of the substances will be...

NanoHarmony and NANOMET have published a status report summarizing the current status of projects aiming to develop or adapt Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guidelines (TG) and Guidance Documents (GD) for nanomaterials, as well as the outlook for each project as of July 2022. The status report is intended to be a living document that will be updated regularly. A large part of the status report comprises activities in European Union (EU) projects like...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on November 1, 2022, on a new research funding opportunity, “Developing and Demonstrating Nanosensor Technology to Detect, Monitor, and Degrade Pollutants.” EPA states that environmental pollutants such as pesticides, insecticides, dyes, phenols, endocrine disrupters, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, and nitrogen compounds can have adverse effects on human health...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will hold a webinar on November 3, 2022, on the safer and sustainable innovation approach (SSIA) for more sustainable nanomaterials and nano-enabled products. According to OECD, SSIA is an approach aiming to boost safer and sustainable innovations by integrating safety and sustainability at an early stage of the design phase of innovative materials, products, applications, and processes. SSIA combines the...

On October 7, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) made key announcements intended to advance the Biden Administration’s efforts “to leverage the promise of science and technology to benefit all Americans.” They also complement the Administration’s ongoing Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act implementation efforts “that will ensure the United...

According to a September 29, 2022, press release, the Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE) has proposed a harmonization of the classification of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) “based on the latest knowledge on the effects of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in organisms.” JBCE notes that this classification is consistent with the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). JBCE states that “the morphologies, physicochemical properties, and...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted a blog item entitled “NIOSH News for National Nanotechnology Day!” on October 6, 2022. In honor of National Nanotechnology Day, October 9, the item summarizes NIOSH’s work in the area of engineered nanomaterials, including the NIOSH Nanomaterial Exposure Assessment Technique (NEAT 2.0), which can be used to identify the potential for exposure to engineered nanomaterials in the workplace. According to NIOSH, the...

NANORIGO, RiskGONE, and Gov4Nano, in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN), will hold a conference in January 2023 on “Future-proof Approaches for Risk Governance.” According to NANORIGO’s September 14, 2022, press announcement, the conference is intended to help shape international approaches to addressing future challenges in risk governance of nano- and advanced materials....

.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published for comment a draft study report entitled “Applicability of the key event based TG 442D for in vitro skin sensitisation testing of nanomaterials.” Switzerland conducted experimental work with selected nanomaterials using OECD Test Guideline (TG) 442D (KeratinoSensTM) and made a basic in vitro to in vivo correlation to outline the potential relevance of the results for prediction of skin sensitisation of...