Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared a June 28, 2016, report, Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer. The report provides an overview of federal research and development (R&D) in nanotechnology, U.S. competitiveness in the field, environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns, nanomanufacturing, and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology. According to the report, while more than 60 nations established similar programs after the launch of the National...

On June 28, 2016, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) issued a press release announcing the availability of a study on “Efficiency Evaluation of N95 FFRs under Cyclic and Constant Flows.”  Researchers tested the efficacy of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) in conditions of constant and cyclical air flow, simulating human breathing, from 42 to 360 liters per minute.  According to the press release, N95 respirators “are the personal...

On June 20, 2016, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a scientific opinion entitled “Priority topics for the development of risk assessment guidance by EFSA’s Scientific Committee in 2016-2018.”  EFSA asked its Scientific Committee to review its cross-cutting guidance for scientific assessments to identify gaps requiring either new or revised guidance.  The Scientific Committee identified topics to be included in its 2016-2018 work program without...

On June 15, 2016, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted a number of Program Performance One-Pagers (PPOP), including a May 2016 PPOP on the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC).  The PPOP states that the NTRC focuses on increasing understanding of hazards and related health risks to workers who make and use nanomaterials and preventing occupational exposures to nanomaterials.  The PPOP includes the following future NIOSH actions:...

The May 2016 issue of NIOSH Research Rounds includes an item entitled “Research Explores Workplace Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes.”  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) summarizes the following two published papers by NIOSH investigators with partners at Kazan State Medical University, in Kazan, Russia, that explore whether workplace exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes could pose a risk for lung disease.  For both studies, participants...

In June 2016, the “Assessment of Individual Exposure to manufactured nanomaterials by means of personal monitors and samples” (nanoIndEx) project published a guidance document entitled Assessment of Personal Exposure to Airborne Nanomaterials.  The three-year project was funded under the Safe Implementation of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SIINN) European Research Area Network (ERA-NET).  Its aim was to determine the field readiness and usability of the...

In June 2016, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) announced the availability of two reports on the potential use of nanotechnologies in existing food additives and food packaging.  FSANZ retained an expert toxicologist to review publicly available scientific literature on whether there is reasonable evidence of health risks associated with oral ingestion of titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, and silver in food.  These food additives may contain a proportion of...

On June 14, 2016, Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) posted the presentations from the April 20, 2016, symposium, “WHO fibres from nanomaterials and other advanced materials:  Do we have to tackle a new asbestos problem in OSH?”  The goal was to initiate a transdisciplinary debate among representatives from academia, regulatory agencies, industry, and other interested parties in the governance landscape on advanced materials.  It was also...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) recently submitted several draft guidance documents concerning nanomaterials to Partner Expert Groups (PEG) for consultation.  Following consultation with PEGs, ECHA will consult its committees and/or Forum, where relevant.  The final consultation will be with the European Commission (EC) and the relevant Competent Authorities.  To ensure that the guidance updating process is transparent and open to participation by relevant partners, ECHA will...

In May 2016, the UK Nanosafety Group (UKNSG) published a second edition of its guidance document, Working Safely with Nanomaterials in Research & Development.  The second edition of the guidance provides updates to account for changes in legislation, recent studies in the literature, and best practice since 2012.  In particular, according to the guidance, specific sections have been revised to account for the full implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and...

On May 3, 3016, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy published a notice beginning a public consultation on two draft nanotechnology standards.  Proposed standard PROY-NMX-R-80004-5-SCFI-2015 is identical to ISO/TS 80004-5:2011, “Nanotechnologies — Vocabulary — Part 5:  Nano/bio interface.”  ISO/TS 80004-5:2011 lists terms and definitions related to the interface between nanomaterials and biology.  It is intended to facilitate communications between...

On June 1, 2016, the German Environment Agency (UBA) published a report entitled Nanomaterials in the environment:  Current state of knowledge and regulations on chemical safety.  The aim of the report is to outline the necessary further development of chemicals regulations for nanomaterials with regard to the environment from UBA’s perspective.  The report is addressed “particularly to players and decision-makers involved in discussions related to the adaptation of the various...

The Swiss National Science Foundation issued a May 12, 2016, press release announcing that researchers from the National Research Program “Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials” have developed a new model to track the flow of the “most important nanomaterials in the environment.”  To assess how man-made nanoparticles make their way into the air, earth, or water, researchers developed a computer model to determine the environmental accumulation of nanosilver, nanozinc, nano-titanium...

According to an item in the Spring 2016 Regulatory Agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “developing a final rule related to” its April 6, 2015, proposal to require reporting and recordkeeping requirements under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances when they are manufactured or processed at the nanoscale.  EPA proposed to require persons that manufacture, import, or process, or intend to manufacture, import, or process...

On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated, through a direct final rule, significant new use rules (SNUR) for 55 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN), including functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT) (generic).  EPA states that it determined that any use of the functionalized CNTs without the use of impervious gloves, where there is potential for dermal exposure; manufacturing the PMN substance for use other than as a thin...

On April 29, 2016, Australia’s National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published the third consultation paper on its reform initiative.  Under the reforms, the requirements to establish that a new chemical can be classified as being not hazardous to human health or the environment, and therefore falls in Hazard Band A, include consideration of several factors, including whether the chemical is a nanomaterial.  The consultation paper states that the risk...

On April 19, 2016, the European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster announced the availability of the “Closer to the Market” Roadmap (CTTM).  The NanoSafety Cluster states that the CTTM is a “multi-dimensional, stepwise plan targeting a framework to deliver safe nano-enabled products to the market.”  The steps include:  (1) building an inclusive collaboration network; (2) bringing together scientific and entrepreneurial experts; (3) strengthening dialog of all stakeholders to raise...

On May 11, 2016, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold a webinar for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that will focus on the experiences, successes, and challenges for SMEs working in nanotechnology and on issues of interest to the business community.  The National Science Foundation’s Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, at Northeastern University’s College of Engineering in Boston, will host the webinar.  Speakers include:...

On April 26, 2016, a group of non-governmental organizations (NGO), consumer groups, and research organizations issued a press release expressing “disappointment with the European Commission’s [(EC)] continuing failure to propose adequate measures for the collection and publication of information about nanomaterials on the [European Union (EU)] market after a Commission meeting with stakeholders in Brussels on Monday.” The press release criticizes the EC for deciding against an...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) met on March 7-9, 2016. The meeting minutes include the following summary regarding SCOEL’s discussion of nanomaterials: Several chemical agents proposed or envisaged to be addressed by SCOEL do concern or also concern the form as nanomaterial. SCOEL identified a group of scientists to organise a workshop or expert meeting in order to prepare for dealing with the subject in specific and take...