Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

On December 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final 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. 88 Fed. Reg. 87346. The SNURs include four chemical substances identified as: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT); closed; 4.4-12.8 nanometer (nm) diameter; bundle length 10.6-211.1...

On December 5, 2023, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) released a report analyzing the economic impact of federal investment in nanotechnology from 2002 to 2022. The report states that NNI selected this timeframe because it was codified by the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act in 2003, and thus the range covers its entire existence. The report examines the impact of public investment, growth and trends of the market, and the evolving understanding and...

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) is organizing a series of National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) webinars on nanometrology, metrological challenges, and recent advances in three topical areas: food, agriculture, and environment; nanoscale medical and pharmaceutical products; and electronics. Registration is open for the first webinar in the series, An Introduction to Nanometrology: History, State-of-the-Art, and Philosophy, which will be held January 5, 2024, at 12:00...

On December 5, 2023, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) began a public consultation on its preliminary opinion on titanium dioxide. Comments on the preliminary opinion are due February 6, 2024. The preliminary opinion includes the following questions from the EC and SCCS’s conclusions: Q: In light of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) opinion on genotoxicity concerns for E171, does SCCS consider titanium dioxide safe in oral cosmetic...

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) announced on December 4, 2023, a series of events to drive U.S. leadership in nanotechnology, in celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. The announcement notes that for the past two decades, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) “has worked with more than 20 departments and agencies to advance a vision...

The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) will hold its 2023 Symposium on December 5, 2023. Open to the public, the agenda for the Symposium includes: Welcome and Introduction: Sean Kelly, Director General (Interim), NIA; The current state of the global nano industry: The NIA now and in the future: Landon Mertz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cerion Nanomaterials and Chair of the NIA Board; Creating the right regulatory environment for nanomaterial innovation in the European Union (EU) and...

On November 20, 2023, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced that the EC requested that it carry out a safety assessment on hydroxyapatite (nano) in view of new information provided. As reported in our March 24, 2023, blog item, according to SCCS’s March 2023 final opinion on hydroxyapatite (nano), based on the data provided, SCCS considers hydroxyapatite (nano) safe when used at concentrations up to ten percent in toothpaste, and up to 0.465...

NanoHarmony announced on November 10, 2023, the release of the NanoHarmony OECD TG/GD Process Mentor, an interactive web-based tool to guide stakeholders through the development process of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guidelines (TG) and Guidance Documents (GD). NanoHarmony states that it developed the NanoHarmony OECD TG/GD Process Mentor to highlight the involvement of key institutions in the OECD Test Guidelines Programme, and their incentives to take part...

On November 8, 2023, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a report entitled Approaches to safe 3D printing: a guide for makerspace users, schools, libraries, and small businesses. According to NIOSH, use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is becoming a prominent part of the modern world. NIOSH notes that some 3D printer users have expressed concerns about potential exposures to ultrafine particles, chemicals, and safety hazards, however. NIOSH...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has rescheduled its symposium entitled “Enabling the Nanotechnology Revolution: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act” to March 5, 2024, at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. According to NNI, the symposium will bring together “experts who can speak on the importance of nanotechnology in quantum engineering, optics, EHS, plastics, DEIA, microelectronics,...

The European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster (NSC) announced on October 24, 2023, that it is conducting a survey on the implementation of nanosafety in workplaces. NSC states that the survey aims to gather insights on the current practices and challenges of implementing nanosafety in workplaces. According to NSC, responses will help shape recommendations for future safety guidelines and protocols. NSC notes that participation will take approximately 15-20 minutes.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has posted two new reports in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials: Advanced Materials Assessment Schemes HARMLESS -- OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) Workshop Report (No. 107): The abstract states that to move forward in the assessment of currently available assessment schemes and evaluate their applicability as foresight tools to anticipate issues with the safety and sustainability of advanced...

NanoHarmony published on October 13, 2023, a white paper entitled From Science to Regulation: The NanoHarmony White Paper on Test Guideline Development. NanoHarmony states that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Test Guidelines (TG) Programme helps to develop harmonized agreed methods that can be used by OECD member countries to implement their regulatory regimes. According to NanoHarmony, for regulations to be effective and for manufacturers to be able to...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Nanoinformatics Conference will be held November 15, 2023, immediately before the 11th meeting of the U.S.-European Union (EU) Nano Environmental, Health, and Safety (NanoEHS) Communities of Research (COR) on November 16-17, 2023. According to the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), the Nanoinformatics Conference is being organized in support of the continued growth of the U.S. nanoinformatics research infrastructure and to foster...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on October 10, 2023, that it published “A study on valid in silico modelling tools and read-across approaches, including creation of case studies on read-across for specific (types of) nanomaterials” that analyzes read-across and in silico approaches as alternative methods to conventional hazard and risk assessments for nanomaterials. According to EUON, the study identifies 190 alternative models and methodologies for...

Registration is open for Nano4EARTH’s November 2, 2023, roundtable discussion on nanotechnology-enabled greenhouse gas (GHG) capture technologies that could help accelerate net-zero goals. The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) states that although full-scale deployment of many nanotechnology-based GHG capture solutions could take longer than four years, the discussion “will focus on nearer-term opportunities for impact that could pave the way toward larger-scale...

On October 6, 2023, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) posted a readout of the first-of-its-kind Nanotechnology Infrastructure Leaders Summit, held at the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building on September 11, 2023. According to OSTP, the meeting included the leadership of 35 different user facilities, open research laboratories, and innovation institutes that “share the mission of facilitating access to cutting-edge tools and expertise that are...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. understands that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) has formed a work group to review data and information related to whether the current 100-nanometer (nm) threshold for determining whether a substance is a nanomaterial should be reviewed. Our May 10, 2022, blog item reported on a May 2022 news item published by EPA, “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides.” According to the item, the...

The EU Academy, an online hub owned by the European Union (EU), is offering an online course on how EU legislation addresses nanomaterials. The target audience includes: Scientists working within the fields of nanomaterials safety who have a basic knowledge of what nanomaterials are; and National authorities and private-sector employees with a scientific background similar to nanosafety scientists and a need for information on regulation of nanomaterials in the EU. The learning objectives...

On October 2, 2023, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) announced that its October 10, 2023, symposium entitled “Enabling the Nanotechnology Revolution: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act” has been postponed. NNCO states that it is working with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and its speakers to find a replacement date in late February or early March 2024. NNCO will share updated...