Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

The German Environment Agency (UBA) in October 2018 published a study entitled Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles:  Systematic literature search and the potential transferability of the results to the German setting.  The study notes that ultrafine particles represent the smallest size fractions of particles with sizes from one to about 100 nanometers in aerodynamic diameter.  Their specific health effects are thus related to their physical capacity to reach diverse organ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish on October 3, 2018, a direct final rule promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) for 26 chemical substances, including carbon nanomaterial (generic), that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  The chemical substances are subject to orders issued by EPA pursuant to Sections 5(e) and 5(f) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The direct final rule requires persons who intend to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on October 10, 2018, a direct final  rule promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) for 28 chemical substances, including  single-walled carbon nanotubes, that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  The chemical substances are subject to orders issued by EPA pursuant to Section 5(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The direct final rule requires persons who intend to manufacture...

On September 12-13, 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NanoReg2, and GRACIOUS hosted a “Scientific Workshop:  Grouping of Nanomaterials.”  The Workshop brought together 120 nanotechnology specialists from Europe, North America, and Asia to discuss a bottleneck in nanomaterials development and testing.  The agenda and the following slides from the workshop have been posted online:...

The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) published an open newsletter on September 19, 2018, that includes an invitation to NIA’s October 11, 2018, open webinar on regulatory priorities.  The open webinar will cover the latest news on the nanomaterials definition, amendments to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Annexes, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Malta project, and the latest news on nanowaste...

On September 21, 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced four new case studies on integrated approaches for testing and assessment (IATA), including a Case Study on Grouping and Read-Across for Nanomaterials — Genotoxicity of Nano-TiO2.  The European Union (EU) Joint Research Center (JRC) developed the case study for the genotoxicity of nano-titanium dioxide (TiO2) for illustrating the practical use of IATA.  The case study applies the...

On September 26, 2018, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will discuss the Fiscal Year 2019 Operating Plan.  According to the Operating Plan, in fiscal year (FY) 2019, CPSC will continue supporting nanotechnology research and working with other federal agencies under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) to minimize duplication and overlap of existing research efforts.  CPSC will undertake the following collaborative research activities:...

Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) has published a report entitled Comparison of Inhalation and Intratracheal Instillation as Testing Methods for Characterisation of Granular Biopersistent Particles (GBP).  In Project F 2364, researchers conducted an in vivo validation study to evaluate the consistency of data with results obtained in the preceding intratracheal instillation study in Project F 2336.  The abstract states that the same...

On September 18, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of a draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  As reported in our January 22, 2016, blog item, NIOSH published a draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) on silver nanomaterials on January 21, 2016.  According to the...

The European Commission (EC) has published a success story, “Controlling light at the nanoscale thanks to graphene.”  The EC notes graphene, “an atomically thin lattice of carbon, has many exceptional properties.”  A European Union (EU)-funded project is focusing on the unique capabilities of graphene plasmons to transport and control light emissions at spatial scales far smaller than their wavelength.  They can be exploited in numerous applications, including for infrared biosensing...