Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

In October 2017, the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Research and Innovation published a report entitled An ecosystem to accelerate the uptake of innovation in materials technology:  Report by the High Level Group of EU Member States and Associated Countries on Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies and Advanced Materials.  The High Level Group of European Union (EU) Member States and Associated Countries on Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies and Advanced Materials examined the barriers...

As reported in our October 11, 2017, blog item, on October 9, 2017, the European Commission (EC) began a public consultation on a draft regulation that would amend Annexes I, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation to address nanoforms of substances.  Comments were due November 6, 2017.  The EC has posted the comments online.  In all, 36 comments were...

On November 30, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will hold a webinar to explain the support documentation available for registrants that cover nanoforms in their Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registration dossier.  ECHA states that the main focus will be on the registration and read-across of nanoforms, but the webinar will also cover updates for information requirements for human health and the environment.  According to the agenda,...

In October 2017, the presentations and report for the June 20, 2017, Second European Conference on “Standardization for Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials:  Reliable data for an effective management of nanomaterials” were posted.  The European Committee for Standardization (CEN)/Technical Committee (TC) 352 “Nanotechnologies,” together with the CEN-European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) Management Center, the European Commission (EC), and the European...

Nanotechnology The National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) grantees conference on progress in nanotechnology will be held December 12-13, 2017.  The conference will highlight the research and education activities of ongoing NSE grant projects.  It will include a combination of keynotes, panels, posters, program information sessions, discussions of research trends, and principal investigator meetings with NSF program directors.  The...

On September 26-27, 2017, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) held an Expert Dialogue regarding the opportunities and risks of the application of nanotechnologies in the automotive sector.  The Expert Dialogue provided an overview of current and future applications of nanomaterials in automobiles.  A number of the presentations are available online, in German.  Since 2006, the NanoDialogue has been conducted as part of the German...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will have six sessions at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe, which will be held May 13-17, 2018, in Rome, Italy.  ECHA’s sessions will include one on recent developments in regulatory science and environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials.  To support the session, ECHA welcomes abstracts on experience gained in environmental hazard and risk assessment of nanomaterials illustrated by case studies.  Presentations...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a November 7, 2017, report entitled Consumer and Environmental Exposure to Manufactured Nanomaterials — Information used to characterize exposures:  Analysis of a Survey.  The report provides a “light analysis” of the results of a Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) survey on consumer and environmental exposures to manufactured nanomaterials.  The survey, initiated in 2015, was designed...

On October 12, 2017, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) published questions and answers (Q&A) regarding a study on whether nanometric pigments from tattoo inks can permanently accumulate in lymph nodes.  BfR states that by using X-rays from a particle accelerator in Grenoble, it discovered where the pigments accumulate in the tissue.  According to BfR, until now, the accumulation of pigments from tattooed persons has been known by optical coloring of the lymph nodes...

On October 5, 2017, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) published a POSTnote entitled “Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials.”  According to POST, key points include: Nanomaterial uses and benefits are diverse and increasing, such as in cosmetics, textiles, electronics, and medicine; Current regulatory frameworks applicable to nanomaterials within the UK are mainly set at the European Union (EU) level; There are some indications of potential...

In October 2017, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard ISO/TR 19057:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Use and application of acellular in vitro tests and methodologies to assess nanomaterial biodurability.”  The standard reviews the use and application of acellular in vitro tests and methodologies implemented in the assessment of the biodurability of nanomaterials and their ligands in simulated biological and environmental media.  It is intended to focus...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has posted an October 30, 2017, report entitled Strategies, Techniques and Sampling Protocols for Determining the Concentrations of Manufactured Nanomaterials in Air at the Workplace.  The objective of the report is to contribute to existing knowledge regarding methods for measuring characteristics of airborne nanoparticles and controlling occupational exposure to airborne nanoparticles, and to gather data on nanoparticle...

On October 24, 2017, the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) held a webinar on Safe by Design for Nanomaterials.  The webinar was open to all actors interested in nanomaterials and their safe management throughout their lifecycle, using the principles of Safe by Design from the earliest development stages.  The webinar included the following presentations: Session 1:  Introduction to Safe by Design EU Research Strategy — Nanotechnologies and Advanced Materials 2018-2020:...

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) recently published a policy brief entitled “EU Observatory for Nanomaterials:  a constructive view on future regulation.”  The policy brief provides information about the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON), how it is being developed, its limitations, and “why it is not an ideal option.”  According to the policy brief, the absence of risk information regarding nanomaterials in safety data sheets (SDS) “is one of the main...

As reported in our October 20, 2017, memorandum, “California and New York Require Manufacturers to Disclose Ingredients in Cleaning Products,” on April 25, 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced the Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program.  The Program will require manufacturers of household cleansing products sold in New York to disclose the chemical ingredients on their websites.  Under the draft 2017 Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure...

The Sixth Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) Conference will be held November 5-7, 2017, in Los Angeles, California.  According to SNO, the Conference sessions represent a hybrid of topics on selected “systems” that contribute to sustainability and more traditional topics.  Sessions will be populated with talks on applications, effects and implications, analytical methods, and lifecycle aspects of nanomaterials within each system.  The aims are to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published on October 19, 2017, a direct final rule promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) for 29 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  The 29 chemical substances are subject to consent orders issued by EPA under Section 5(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act.  The direct final rule includes a SNUR for multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (generic) (PMN Numbers P-15-487, P-15-488,...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a report entitled Silver Nanoparticles:  Summary of the Dossier.  The Summary states that Korea led the testing of silver nanoparticles under OECD’s Sponsorship Program for the Testing of Manufactured Nanomaterials.  OECD published the dossier on silver nanoparticles in 2016, and the seven-part dossier identifies the U.S. as co-lead.  The Summary includes information on physical and chemical properties; general...

The European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster will hold the first in a series of webinars on November 20, 2017.  The series will introduce the EU NanoSafety Cluster’s work and the key outcomes from its projects.  The first webinar will present the EU NanoSafety Cluster, what it does, and provide examples of its work.  Future webinars, which will be held every four months, will cover important project outcomes and their impact on the safe development of nanomaterials to consumers across all...

On October 12, 2017, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the release of 17 new, updated, corrected, or deleted Test Guidelines.  The Test Guidelines include three specifically developed for nanomaterials.  OECD states that Test Guideline 318:  Dispersion Stability of Nanomaterials in Simulated Environmental Media provides a simple and effective tool that can analyze the dispersion stability of nanomaterials in aqueous media.  It is one of the...