Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

In August 2017, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), a research, education, and policy center established by the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act of 1989, published a nanomaterials fact sheet.  The fact sheet is part of a series of chemical and material fact sheets developed by TURI that are intended to help Massachusetts companies, community organizations, and residents understand the use of hazardous substances and their effects on human health and the environment. ...

The Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on September 6, 2017, that an RIVM researcher, Joris Meesters, modified SimpleBox, a distribution model for chemicals, to create SimpleBox4nano, a model to calculate concentrations of nanoparticles in water, soil, and air.  SimpleBox4nano includes new processes that specifically apply to nanoparticles, such as the clustering of particles.  Meesters tested the model using three metal oxide...

On August 30, 2017, Environmental Science & Technology, an American Chemical Society (ACS) publication, published a study entitled “Characterization and Control of Nanoparticle Emission during 3D Printing.” According to the abstract, the study aimed to evaluate particle emission characteristics and to evaluate several control methods used to reduce particle emissions during three-dimensional (3D) printing. Experiments for particle characterization measured particle number...

Responses to the European Center for Risk Management and Safe Innovation in Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies (EC4SafeNano) survey on demand and supply of services in nanosafety are due September 15, 2017. EC4SafeNano notes that multiple responses from different departments and groups within a single organization are possible. As reported in our April 24, 2017, blog item, EC4SafeNano wishes to develop a catalog of services matching the anticipated needs and service requirements...

On September 6, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Program Performance One-Pager entitled NIOSH Engineering Controls Program.  The Program’s activities include providing engineering control recommendations to protect workers from emerging hazards in nanotechnology and advanced materials used in additive manufacturing/three-dimensional (3D) printing.  The Program is currently working to: Complete laboratory evaluations of ultrafine...

The European Commission (EC) Environment Directorate General (DG) published an August 2017 report entitled Assessing the environmental safety of manufactured nanomaterials.  The report “shows that, despite early fears, nano-sized particles are not inherently more toxic than larger particles; however, differences between them may be notable and new insights are still being provided by research.”  The report’s aim is “to present the most promising strategies and most significant...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 20477:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Standard terms and their definition for cellulose nanomaterial.”  The standard states that in industrial productions, cellulose nanomaterials can be manufactured by conversion of wood pulp through chemical, biological, or mechanical processes.  Due to their renewable nature and unique properties, cellulose nanomaterials have developed into platform materials that have...

The “Technology Development Pathways:  Case Studies from the [National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)]” workshop will be held November 1, 2017.  According to NNI, the workshop will showcase application areas where nanotechnology has had commercial impact.  Keynote presentations will highlight the pathways companies have taken to get from research to commercialization.  Panel discussions will focus on specific steps of the development pathway, such as scale up and...

On August 23, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice requesting comment on its draft National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) for Manufacturing for public comment.  The NORA Manufacturing Sector Council wrote the Agenda, which “identifies the most important occupational safety and health research needs for the next decade, 2016-2026.”  According to NIOSH, the Agenda provides a vehicle...

The 2017 European Union (EU)-U.S. “Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts Joint Workshop” will be held September 7-8, 2017, at the University of Birmingham.  The workshop will be activity-driven, and the activity will be to consider current (and future) approaches to nano environmental and health safety (nanoEHS) research to close the gap between research and regulation.  The activity will focus on nanomaterials testing, grouping, and read-across methodologies, using case-studies to provide...