Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

UFC-Que Choisir, a French non-governmental organization (NGO), announced on January 23, 2018, that it filed complaints against nine manufacturers of food and cosmetic products for failure to comply with the requirement to report the presence of nanomaterials on the product label.  UFC-Que Choisir states that its analysis covered 20 consumer products (seven food products, nine cosmetics, and four drugs) and targeted titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, and carbon black. ...

On March 7, 2018, the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) will hold a webinar on “Nanomedicine:  Diagnostics and therapeutics advancing through nanotechnology.”  The webinar will focus on the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of nanotechnology, with the agenda including: Regulatory landscape in Europe and beyond for nanomaterials in healthcare applications; and Industry developments within nanomedicine from NIA Members: Endomag — A United Kingdom/U.S. small- or...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice on January 31, 2018, announcing the availability of the final National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing.  NIOSH states that the National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing “is intended to identify the knowledge and actions most urgently needed to identify occupational risk factors to prevent avoidable adverse health outcomes among...

As reported in our June 19, 2017, blog item, the European Commission (EC) published a catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetic products on the European Union (EU) market.  On February 5, 2018, the European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a table linking nanomaterials listed in the catalog to their Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registration data in the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA)...

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings, and Processing Aids evaluated food contact material (FCM) Substance No. 1070, which incorporates selenium nanoparticles into the adhesive middle layer of multilayer laminates with an outside polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer and an inner polyolefin (food contact) layer.  The results of the Panel’s evaluation are published in the January 2018 issue of the EFSA Journal in an...

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances (TLV®-CS) Committee has included carbon nanotubes on its 2018 list of chemical substances and other issues under study.  Being placed on the under study list indicates that the TLV®-CS Committee has selected carbon nanotubes for development of a threshold limit value (TLV®).  ACGIH® describes TLVs® as health-based values representing the...

Belgium published in the January 15, 2018, Official Gazette an amendment to the Royal Decree regarding the placement on the market of substances manufactured at the nanoscale.  Under the amendment, cosmetic products as defined by the July 2012 Belgian Royal Decree on cosmetic products are exempt from registration, and provisions regarding the registration of mixtures entered into force on January 1, 2018.  As reported in our October 27, 2014, blog item, substances defined as...

The European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published on January 24, 2018, its final opinion on titanium dioxide (nano form) as an ultraviolet (UV)-filter in sprays.  The EC asked SCCS to address the following questions: In light of the data provided, does SCCS consider titanium dioxide (nano) safe when used as a UV-filter in sunscreens and personal care spray products at a concentration up to 5.5 percent; and Does SCCS have any further scientific...

The Office of Science and Technology Policy published a Federal Register notice on January 23, 2018, announcing that the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), “will facilitate stakeholder discussion of targeted nanotechnology topics through workshops, webinars, and Community of Interest meetings between...

During its December 14-15, 2017, meeting, the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) discussed ECHA’s strategy on substances in nanoforms.  According to the strategy, following recent rulings of the Board of Appeal, the “possibility for using dossier and substance evaluation under the current legal text of [the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation] to verify safe use of nanomaterials on the EU market has become...