Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN), including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (generic). 87 Fed. Reg. 58999. The SNUR requires persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process the chemical substance identified generically as MWCNTs (PMN...

Gov4Nano, NANORIGO, and RiskGONE, three projects funded by the European Union (EU), are working together “to develop and establish a robust public policy framework for the use of nanomaterials based on scientific evidence supporting a clear understanding of risks, their assessment and management within wider societal considerations.” The projects are conducting a survey to understand better how the needs of different stakeholders can be addressed through the outputs of the...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold the “FDA NanoDay Symposium 2022” on October 11, 2022. The symposium will address the following topics: According to FDA, the intended audience includes:...

On September 13, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Can the Brain’s Gatekeeper Fight a Nano-Attack?” by Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones, Professor of Environmental Nanoscience at the University of Birmingham, who co-authored an article entitled “Biotransformation modulates the penetration of metallic nanomaterials across an artificial blood–brain barrier model.” The researchers set out to explore systematically how...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials is to provide up-to-date information on the OECD activities related to human health and environmental safety. In September 2022, OECD has published two new reports. Advanced Materials: Working Description (No. 104) aims to illustrate the content of the advanced materials playing field and the purpose of the Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials’ (WPMN) engagement...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released on August 9, 2022, a report entitled Review of Fate, Exposure, and Effects of Sunscreens in Aquatic Environments and Implications for Sunscreen Usage and Human Health. NASEM was tasked by Congress and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake a consensus study of the potential risk of ultraviolet (UV) filters on already threatened aquatic environments and the potential...

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) project (DaNa4.0) is addressing the question of whether new advanced materials, including nanomaterials, can be harmful to humans and the environment and how humans and the environment come into contact with these materials. DaNa has published an August 2022 research spotlight on a “Three-stage model for the formation of micro- and nanoplastic particles.” The paper, “Degradation of low-density polyethylene to nanoplastic...

On July 29, 2022, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Technical Report: Occupational Exposure Sampling for Engineered Nanomaterials. Since 2010, NIOSH has developed guidance for workplace sampling for three engineered nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF), silver, and titanium dioxide, each of which has an elemental mass-based NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL). NIOSH has also developed a practical approach to...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will co-host a webinar on August 25, 2022, on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding opportunities for water nanotechnologies. Small businesses and academic researchers will have an opportunity to hear from some of the federal agencies that fund water technologies, with a special focus on investments in nanotechnology-enabled solutions. The...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published a document entitled Chemical Accidents Involving Nanomaterials: Potential Risks and Review of Prevention, Preparedness and Response Measures — Project Report. Part of OECD’s series on chemical accidents, the document presents the outcome from a project of the OECD Working Party on Chemical Accidents (WPCA) that aimed to investigate safety issues related to the prevention of, preparedness for, and response to...