Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Blog

On August 19, 2015, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced appeals of its March 11, 2015, decision on substance evaluation for silicon dioxide.  Case A-015-2015 was filed by Evonik Degussa GmbH and 34 others, while Case A-014-2015 was filed by Grace GmbH & Co. KG and Advanced Refining Technologies GmbH.  The appellants in Case A-015-2015 challenge ECHA’s decision to include silicon dioxide on the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) “due to...

The United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prepared a report entitled Summary of work undertaken to assess workplace exposure and control measures during the manufacture and handling of engineered nanomaterials.  The report notes that HSE and HSL attempted to identify and engage with companies that manufactured or used nanomaterials, but only four volunteered to take part in this project.  The report cautions that the...

On August 4, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of its Final 2014 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan.  The Final Program Plan includes the following findings from EPA’s review of engineered nanomaterials in industrial wastewater: Some manufacturing and processing methods likely generate wastewater, but the quantity generated and waste management practices are not documented; Toxicity hazards from engineered nanomaterials have been...

On August 4, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of a final guidance document entitled “Guidance for Industry:  Use of Nanomaterials in Food for Animals.”  The Guidance is intended to assist industry and other stakeholders in identifying potential issues related to safety or regulatory status of food for animals containing nanomaterials or otherwise involving the application of nanotechnology.  FDA states that the Guidance is...

On July 27, 2015, two petitions for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) second conditional registration of a nanosilver pesticide product were filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a petition (Case Number 15-72308), as well as the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) (Case Number 15-72312). Both suits ask the court to set aside EPA’s final order...

On July 16, 2015, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced the following appeals in which the keywords include nanoforms: J.M. Huber Finland Oy, Case A-011-2015; RHODIA OPERATIONS SAS, Case A-010-2015; IQESIL SA, Case A-009-2015; and Evonik Degussa GmbH, Case A-008-2015. The cases all concern silicic acid, aluminum sodium salt. The contested decisions were adopted December 17, 2014, following a compliance check under the dossier evaluation procedure of the submitted registration. In each...

The July 25, 2015, Canada Gazette includes a notice announcing that the Minister of the Environment requires, for the purpose of assessing whether the substances described in the notice are toxic or are capable of becoming toxic, or for the purpose of assessing whether to control, or the manner in which to control the listed substances, any person described in the notice who possesses or who may reasonably be expected to have access to the information required to provide that...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced on July 10, 2015, the publication of its third report in its review of the EC recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial.  The report is the last in a series of three, and provides scientific support to the EC in its review of the definition used to identify materials for which special provisions might apply (e.g., for ingredient labeling or safety assessment).  According to JRC, as the definition...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has issued the following publications in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials:  No. 55 — Harmonized Tiered Approach to Measure and Assess the Potential Exposure to Airborne Emissions of Engineered Nano-Objects and their Agglomerates and Aggregates at Workplaces:  The primary goal of this publication is to describe a reliable formal methodology for conducting consistent exposure related...

On July 7, 2015, the American Chemical Society (ACS) will hold a webinar to address the White House’s recently announced Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade.  The webinar will feature ACS Nano Editor-in-Chief Paul Weiss and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Lloyd Whitman.  The webinar is free, and registration is open to the general public.