Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

“Nanotechnology: The Power of Small,” the first major television series to examine the implications of advances in nanotechnology, will begin airing on local public broadcasting stations in April 2008. The series is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the presenting station and grantee for the series is Oregon Public Broadcasting. In the episodes, award-winning National Public Radio correspondent John Hockenberry asks policymakers, scientists, journalists,...

On April 25, 2008, the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) will hold a conference entitled “The Future of Nanotechnology: A Legislative Summit.” The conference sponsors include California Assembly Member Mike Feuer (AD 42-D), Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR), State Government Relations (SGR), and CNSI. Panelists include Lenny Rome, Ph.D.; Andre Nel, Ph.D., MD; John Froines, Ph.D.; Hilary Godwin, Ph.D.; Tim Malloy, JD;...

DuPont and Environmental Defense (ED) will hold two interactive workshops on nano risk management. The workshops are intended to give participants the tools they need to: Understand (and explain to others) why nano-specific risk management is necessary; Assemble and leverage the internal and external resources to implement nano-specific risk management; and Begin implementing nano-specific risk management in an efficient and effective manner. The workshops will include: Interactive...

On March 12, 2008, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released a supplementary guidance document for the Voluntary Reporting Scheme (VRS). DEFRA prepared the supplementary guidance document to complement the existing VRS guidance. Chapter 2 describes the rationale and benefits of the VRS. Chapter 3 provides a specific list of the relevant physical, chemical, toxicological, and ecotoxicological data to include when reporting under the...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will hold a Nanotechnology Customer Partnership meeting on April 22, 2008. According to PTO, it intends the Partnership to provide a forum to share ideas, experiences, and insights between individual users and PTO. PTO states that it does not intend to use the Partnership to arrive at a group consensus.  Individual opinions are sought from varying participants, and the meetings are intended to be informal in nature.  Due to space limitations, PTO...

A recent report released by Friends of the Earth (FOE) calls for a moratorium “on the further commercial release of food products, food packaging, food contact materials and agrochemicals that contain manufactured nanomaterials until nanotechnology-specific safety laws are established and the public is involved in decision making.” The report, entitled Out of the Laboratory and on to Our Plates:  Nanotechnology in Food & Agriculture, lists 104 commercially available foods,...

On April 17-18, 2008, the European Commission (EC) will hold a workshop on research on the safety of nanomaterials. The main objectives of the workshop are: To increase interactions between researchers to enhance networking, sharing of outcomes of the research projects, and boosting synergies between research groups across Europe and abroad; To improve communication of the results of research to risk assessment bodies and other interested parties, providing sound science-based...

Last week the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requested comments on its Strategic Plan for NIOSH Nanotechnology Research and Guidance:  Filling the Knowledge Gaps (Strategic Plan).  NIOSH intends the Strategic Plan “to provide a tool for coordinating nanotechnology research across the Institute and to provide a guide for enhancing the development of new research efforts that will respond to the challenges of working with a new...

On February 29, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a March 17-18, 2008, public meeting “to discuss opportunities for industry-government partnerships to foster greater public awareness of the environmental attributes of household and institutional consumer products and help make consumers aware of efforts on the part of consumer product manufacturers to improve the environmental performance of their products and production facilities.” According to EPA, the...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) released on March 3, 2008, a document entitled Opinion on Safety of Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products (Opinion). In its Opinion, the SCCP divides nanoparticles into two groups: 1) soluble and/or biodegradable nanoparticles; and 2) insoluble particles. The SCCP states that, for the soluble and/or biodegradable group, “conventional risk assessment methodologies based on mass metrics may be adequate, whereas...