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: An overview and discussion of the recent “Guidance for Industry: Drug Products, Including Biological Products, that Contain Nanomaterials.” More information on the guidance is available in our April 24, 2022, blog item; A contextualized discussion of the development of the COVID mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccine products; A...

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...

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...

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced on June 22, 2022, that the European Commission (EC) asked that it reassess the safety of titanium dioxide with a focus on genotoxicity and exposure via the inhalation and oral route (lip care, lipstick, toothpaste, loose powder, hair spray) “since the currently available scientific evidence supports an overall lack of dermal absorption” of titanium dioxide particles. The request notes that titanium dioxide is authorized...

The Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has published a NanoTrust Dossier entitled “Advanced Materials.” According to the dossier, advanced materials are “materials or material combinations with improved, novel or unique functionalities or properties” and represent a broad class of materials that include semiconductors, biomaterials, and nanomaterials. The dossier states that in many cases, novel materials offer solutions to environmental...

The 4th Joint Symposium on Nanotechnology, organized by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Fraunhofer Network Nanotechnology (FNT), was held May 30-31, 2022. The conference included presentations on topics such as the use of nanotechnology in textiles and packaging, its application in agriculture, the introduction of nanomaterials into the body, and future-oriented assessment approaches. The following presentations from the conference have been posted online....

On June 30, 2022, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published six new Test Guidelines (TG) and ten updated or corrected TGs. The new TGs include the first two harmonized methods for measuring certain nanomaterial-specific physical-chemical properties. According to OECD, these harmonized methods were developed to respond to regulatory needs in member and adhering countries, specifically for manufactured nanomaterials. The development of these TGs was...

On June 28, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Models to Characterize Exposures to Manufactured Nanomaterials in OECD” by Vladimir Murashov, Ph.D., Senior Scientist in the Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and John Howard, M.D., Director of NIOSH and Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The authors...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on June 17, 2022, that it is looking for topics that could be addressed in its upcoming studies. EUON conducts up to three studies annually to address knowledge gaps on nanomaterials. EUON is looking for study topics that address: Questions related to the health and safety aspects of nanomaterials, including hazard and risk assessment, exposure to nanomaterials, or worker safety and protection; Specific issues...

On June 17, 2022, Canada published its draft Framework for the Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) for a 60-day public comment period. The plain language summary states that the framework describes how scientists at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC) conduct risk assessments on nanomaterials. The draft risk assessment framework outlines approaches and considerations for...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a public webinar on June 28, 2022, on “Nanotechnology Commercialization: Perspectives from a Regional Innovation Ecosystem.” Participants will hear from members “of a vibrant nanotechnology innovation ecosystem anchored by the Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Hub at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology (part of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure).” The speakers will share their perspectives on topics such as...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on June 10, 2022, that NanoData has been updated with “a new look and feel to improve the user experience.” NanoData is the knowledge base on nanosciences and -technology hosted by EUON. It contains data on different products, research projects, publications, patents, and organizations. According to EUON, users can now visualize statistics through built-in charts and graphs. The data can be easily...

On June 10, 2022, the European Commission (EC) announced that it is clarifying the definition of nanomaterials in a new Recommendation that supports a coherent European Union (EU) regulatory framework for nanomaterials, helping to align legislation across all sectors. The EC states that the new definition should be used in EU and national legislation, policy, and research programs. The Recommendation states: ‘Nanomaterial’ means a natural, incidental or manufactured...

On May 31, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Urinary MicroRNA-based Early Cancer Detection Using Nanowire-based Devices” by Dr. Yasui Takao on using nanowire devices to extract microRNAs (miRNA) from urine to distinguish cancer patients from healthy individuals and improve the early detection of cancer. According to Yasui, researchers designed a device equipped with 100 million zinc oxide nanowires that can extract a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a complaint with the Environmental Appeals Board on March 15, 2022, pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to the complaint, as the result of an EPA inspection of the Vorbeck Materials facility on June 20, 2019, and its follow-up actions, EPA alleges that Vorbeck has violated TSCA Section 12(b) and the Notice of Export rule requirements at 40 C.F.R. Part 707, Subpart D, thereby violating TSCA...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published ISO/TR 23463:2022, “Nanotechnologies — Characterization of carbon nanotube and carbon nanofibre aerosols to be used in inhalation toxicity tests.” The standard reviews characterization of carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbon nanofiber (CNF) aerosols for inhalation exposure studies. According to the standard, the framework for material characterization for inhalation studies consists of: Characterization of as-produced...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has made recent improvements to its chemicals database. For nanomaterials on the European Union (EU) market, the details page of the database now includes information on the nanomaterial form characterization. According to ECHA, the results page also has an improved display, allowing better access to the data and improved user interaction options. Other improvements to the database include: Properties of concern on infocards now link to more information...

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has posted “important information” for the 2022 reporting period under R-Nano, France’s national reporting scheme for substances in nanoparticle form. ANSES states that it is asking providers to give an updated declaration number to their customers upon request, “even if they have no declaration to perform.” To do so, providers “must ‘duplicate’ the substance identity information...

According to a May 9, 2022, news item published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides,” over the past decade, EPA “has received an increasing number of pesticide product applications that potentially contain nanomaterials.” The article notes that EPA’s current pesticide review method was not designed for nanomaterials, so each product is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An EPA research team led by EPA...

The NanoHarmony and NANOMET projects are holding their first face-to-face joint workshop on the development of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guidelines (TG) for nanomaterials back-to-back with the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) at the OECD Conference Center in Paris on June 29-30, 2022. NanoHarmony aims to facilitate and improve the development process of TGs from the perspective of the developers, users, and...

On April 20, 2022, Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) announced that the fourth joint symposium on nanotechnology will be held May 30-31, 2022. During the symposium, experts will present their findings on topics such as the use of nanotechnology in textiles and packaging, its application in agriculture, the effects of nanomaterials on the body, and future-oriented assessment approaches. BfR notes that with nanotechnology, consumer protection is expanding into...

The U.S.  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on April 22, 2022, the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled “Drug Products, Including Biological Products, that Contain Nanomaterials.” 87 Fed. Reg. 24169. FDA states that the guidance applies to human drug products, including those that are biological products, in which a nanomaterial is present in the finished dosage form. The guidance discusses both general principles and specific considerations for developing drug...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) announced on April 11, 2022, the release of a video documentary, NNI Retrospective Video: Creating a National Initiative, produced in cooperation with TV Worldwide. According to NNI, the video was made for the 20th NNI grantees conference at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Former President Clinton announced the creation of NNI in January 2000. NSF led the preparation of NNI together with other agencies, including the National Institutes of...

On March 31, 2022, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published a supplement to President Biden’s 2022 budget request. The supplement serves as NNI’s annual report. According to the supplement, NNI has made significant progress toward the five goals of NNI identified in the 2021 NNI Strategic Plan. Furthermore, the nanotechnology research community continues to leverage former NNI investments that established a strong foundation of understanding at the nanoscale to combat...

The European Commission (EC) has begun a public consultation on how the Cosmetic Products Regulation could be improved to ensure human health and the functioning of the internal market. According to the EC, the identified shortcomings include “the lack of coherence between legislations on the definition of nanomaterials.” The EC notes that its October 2020 Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability outlines its goal to protect better the public and the environment against...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on March 22, 2022, that the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) recently adopted ten opinions on harmonized classification and labeling (CLH), including an opinion for multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). According to the annex to ECHA’s announcement, MWCNTs possess properties that make them useful for industrial applications in new or enhanced materials and products (e.g., tensile strength, electrical and thermal...

On March 17, 2022, the European Commission (EC) requested that the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) prepare a scientific opinion on “hydroxyapatite (nano).” As reported in our April 13, 2021, blog item, SCCS issued a final opinion in 2021 stating that having considered the data provided, and other relevant information available in scientific literature, it “cannot conclude on the safety of the hydroxyapatite composed of rod-shaped nanoparticles for use in oral-care...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) has launched two calls for tenders to conduct studies on nanomaterials. The first call for tender is on valid in silico modeling tools and read-across approaches, including creating case studies on read-across for specific types of nanomaterials. According to the call for tender, the study proposes to examine the use of these tools for nanomaterials and to draw potential conclusions (for both regulators and industry/small-...

On March 1, 2022, NanoHarmony held the first in a series of webinars covering the different phases that an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guideline (TG) progresses through during its journey from a science-based initial idea through to use by industry to fulfill regulatory obligations. A recording of the March 1, 2022, webinar on the use of TGs in industry is now available. A short survey is available to collect stakeholder viewpoints on the...

On February 24, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Are nanoplastics hazardous? The way forward to overcome the uncertainties of risk assessment” by Dr. Anita Jemec Kokalj and Dr. Dana Kühnel about defining the criteria to evaluate which properties of nanoplastics should be reported in future studies to decrease uncertainties in their risk assessment. The authors state that nanoplastics “are complex environmental pollutants...

As reported in our July 9, 2021, blog item, NanoHarmony aims to support the development of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guidelines (TG) and guidance documents (GD) for eight endpoints where nanomaterial-adapted test methods have been identified as a regulatory priority. To identify difficulties arising during the development process for TGs and GDs, NanoHarmony asked stakeholders to share their experiences in a short survey. According to NanoHarmony’s...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on “What We Know about NanoEHS: Building International Bridges” on March 1, 2022. NNI states that it has supported the emergence of an international community of collaborative researchers on the environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS). According to NNI, “[b]y advancing tools, methods, and standards for robust health and safety evaluation, these cooperative efforts have furthered the safe and...

The European Commission (EC) notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) on February 11, 2022, of a draft amendment to the Cosmetics Regulation regarding the use of certain nanomaterials in cosmetics products. The EC states that the amendment is required to enact the prohibition to use in cosmetic products certain nanomaterials for which the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) identified a basis of concern. The draft amendment would revise Annex II to the Cosmetics Regulation (list...

On January 18, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “What does ‘Graphene’ really look like and why is it not ‘carbon nanotubes’” by Dr. Alberto Bianco, Dr. Maurizio Prato, and Dr. Kostas Kostarelos, of the Graphene Flagship, an EU research initiative, about graphene and why it is not the same as carbon nanotubes. The article states that in particular, the authors wish to emphasize “that ‘graphene’ as a single type of...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a February 2022 report entitled Important Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials. The report provides the current practices, challenges, and strategies for assessing the risk of manufactured nanomaterials in circumstances where data are limited, and the report states that there is a necessity for more research on specific risk assessment issues. As such, the report presents an overview of the...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a January 2022 update to the Appendix for nanoforms applicable to the Guidance on Registration and Substance Identification (version 2.0). The main changes to the document include additional guidance on the joint submission of data, clarifications regarding the need for one data set per nanoform or set of nanoforms, and information on the registration of sets of nanoforms versus single nanoforms. Changes to the Appendix are limited to...

On January 21, 2022, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published a second statement on emerging health and environmental issues. SCHEER members have identified nine emerging issues in the non-food area as having a potential impact on human health and/or the environment in the future and have given them overall prioritization scores (*, 1, 2, or 3, where * is uncertain and three is high). The emerging issues...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on developments concerning the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It includes the following information on developments in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed review of two low volume...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on “What We Know about NanoEHS: Nanoinformatics and Modeling” on January 31, 2022. NNI states that nanoinformatics and modeling support and crosscut all areas of assessments of the environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS). The expert panel will explore how progress in nanoinformatics and modeling has impacted the safe and responsible development of nanotechnology. The panel will be moderated by...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published ISO/TS 21357:2022, “Nanotechnologies — Evaluation of the mean size of nano-objects in liquid dispersions by static multiple light scattering (SMLS).” ISO states that the standard provides guidance and requirements for the determination of the mean (spherical) equivalent diameter of nano-objects (i.e., particles, droplets, or bubbles) dispersed in liquids using the SMLS technique. According to ISO, the technique is...

The European Commission (EC) announced on January 14, 2022, that it adopted a ban on the use of titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive. The ban will apply after a six-month transition period, and beginning summer 2022, this additive should no longer be added to food products. According to the EC, titanium dioxide “is used to impart white colour to many foods, from baked goods and sandwich spreads to soups, sauces, salad dressing and food supplements.” The EC states that European Union...

In December 2021, the German Environment Agency (UBA) published a document entitled Risk Governance of Advanced Materials: Considerations from the joint perspective of the German Higher Federal Authorities BAuA, BfR and UBA. The document summarizes the current activities, considerations, and recommendations of UBA, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) aiming to establish good governance of advanced...

On December 22, 2021, the Swedish National Platform for Nanosafety (SweNanoSafe) announced the availability of the executive summary for a report entitled “Toward Safe and Sustainable Nanotechnology Innovation.” SweNanoSafe and researchers from the Action Research Center for a Resilient Society, Sari Scheinberg and Sverker Alänge, commissioned a study to contribute to knowledge and understanding, to create new ways of meeting, and to gather information on how...