Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

On June 1, 2017, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety published meeting documents from the Expert Dialogue on “Opportunities and Risks of the Application of Nanotechnologies in the Construction Sector.”  The documents include a summary of discussion, meeting agenda, and report, Regulation of construction products and possibilities to address (new) risks from nanomaterials.  During the Expert Dialogue, participants...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published standard ISO/TR 19601:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Aerosol generation for air exposure studies of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA).”  ISO states that, to evaluate the inhalation toxicity of NOAA, it is important to consider certain parameters that make the toxicity testing relevant to human exposure.  Three critical aspects to consider when designing and conducting an inhalation...

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS) published a draft Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) Document, Principles and Methods to Assess the Risk of Immunotoxicity Associated with Exposure to Nanomaterials.  According to IPCS, the target audience is risk assessors in a regulatory setting, researchers, and industry that needs to provide the data for assessment.  The draft EHC Document states that recent reports have identified...

On June 15, 2017, the European Commission (EC) published a catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetic products on the European Union (EU) market.  Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products requires the EC to publish a catalog of all nanomaterials used in cosmetics placed on the market, indicating the categories of products and the reasonably foreseeable exposure conditions.  Under the Regulation, the catalog was due by January 11, 2014.  As reported in our...

On June 14, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced the launch of the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON).  ECHA states that EUON “offers a unique web-based information point with factual and neutral content about nanomaterials on the EU market.”  EUON is targeted at a wide audience, including consumers, workers, regulators, and scientists.  EUON provides information on uses, health and safety issues, research, regulation, and...

On June 7, 2017, Sweden notified the European Commission (EC) that it intends to amend the information requirements concerning the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s (KEMI) product register to require notifiers to provide information on nanomaterials contained in the product.  Under the draft regulation, the requirement will apply to nanomaterials that have been intentionally added to the product, regardless of the concentration of the nanomaterials.  The definition of nanomaterial...

On June 9, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) “concluded that the available scientific evidence meets the criteria in the [Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP)] Regulation to classify titanium dioxide as a substance suspected of causing cancer through the inhalation route.”  In May 2016, France submitted a proposal for harmonized classification and labeling (CLH).  The proposal’s...

The Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017 describes the legislative framework for a reformed, risk-based regulatory scheme for Australia to continue to regulate the introduction of industrial chemicals.  The Australian government has presented the bill to Parliament.  On June 1, 2017, the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published Consultation Paper 5, which seeks feedback from stakeholders on the detail to be included in delegated...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard ISO/TR 18401:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Plain language explanation of selected terms from the ISO/IEC 80004 series.”  The standard is intended to assist stakeholders who are making decisions about the direction, management, and application of nanotechnologies to understand better selected key terms and definitions in the ISO/IEC 80004 vocabulary series for nanotechnologies.  The standard offers...

Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), will speak at the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association’s (NanoBCA) 15th Annual Conference, which will be held June 14, 2016, in New York City, New York. The conference will include leading experts from private industry who are commercializing nanomaterials. Nanotechnology leaders such as Jim Phillips, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NanoMech, Charles van Fleet, President of Swan Chemical,...