Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

In July 2017, the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) published a report entitled Evaluation of the availability and applicability of computational approaches in the safety assessment of nanomaterials:  Final report of the Nanocomput project.  The main aims of the Nanocomput Project were to review and assess the current status of computational methods that are potentially useful for predicting the properties of engineered nanomaterials to provide advice on the use of...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published a chapter in the fifth edition of the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM) entitled “Analysis of Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers on Mixed Cellulose Ester Filters by Transmission Electron Microscopy.”  The draft chapter provides standardized approaches for the analysis of carbon nanoparticles.  The chapter provides detailed guidance on effective means to perform transmission electron microscopic analysis...

Since July 20, 2017, when the Trump Administration published its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, the entry for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) item (RIN 2070-AJ54) concerning the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a) reporting rule for nanoscale materials has been revised at least twice.  As reported in our July 20, 2017, blog item, the Unified Agenda item stated that the final rule effective date is “To Be Determined” (TBD).  On July...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on July 27, 2017, entitled “The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) Nodes and Environmental Research: Examples from the Field.”  The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports NNCI, which includes 16 user facility sites, their affiliated partners, and a coordinating office.  NNCI sites provide researchers, academics, small and large businesses, and government scientists with access to...

On July 20, 2017, the Trump Administration published its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The Agenda includes a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) item (RIN 2070-AJ54) concerning the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a) reporting rule for nanoscale materials.  According to the Agenda item, the final rule effective date is “To Be Determined” (TBD).  The January 12, 2017, final rule requires one-time reporting for existing...

The Journal of Nanobiotechnology published a special issue on the outcome of Switzerland’s five-year National Research Program on the “Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials” (NRP 64).  The editorial states that the Program’s primary goal was to investigate potential applications of existing nanomaterials in healthcare, the consumer industry, and in the environment, and to identify, characterize, and minimize the possible risks associated with their...

On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register a Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule establishing reporting and recordkeeping requirements for certain chemical substances when they are manufactured or processed at the nanoscale.  According to a pre-publication version of the final rule, manufacturers and processers, or persons who intend to manufacture or process these chemical...

According to the July 7, 2017, issue of the Chemicals Management Plan Progress Report, Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada are in the process of prioritizing nanoscale forms of substances on the Domestic Substances List.  As reported in our July 27, 2015, blog item, Canada conducted a mandatory information-gathering survey under Section 71 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.  Canada states that the survey identified 53 substances as...

To assist the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in selecting agents for review in future Monographs, IARC regularly convenes international, interdisciplinary Advisory Groups to review all public nominations and to recommend those it considers to be of high priority.  According to information on its website, IARC will convene its next Advisory Group in 2018/2019.  IARC encourages the general public, the scientific community, national health agencies, and...

On June 30, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Board of Appeal published two decisions related to nanomaterials.  In the July 5, 2017, issue of ECHA Weekly, ECHA states that the Board of Appeal “largely upheld the appeals and annulled most of the requests for information.”  In Cases A-014-2015 and A-015-2015, registrants appealed the same 2015 ECHA decision requesting information on synthetic amorphous silica (SAS) following a substance evaluation by the Netherlands Competent...