All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On January 21, 2016, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the availability of a draft NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  The draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) includes a review and assessment of the currently available scientific literature on the toxicological effects of exposure to silver nanoparticles in experimental animal and cellular systems, and on the...

This analysis reviews the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697) as passed by the Senate on December 17, 2015, and compares it to the previous version of S. 697 (identified as Lautenberg2 in this analysis), passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in June 2015. This review also briefly compares S. 697 to H.R. 2576, the [Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)] Modernization Act of 2015, which passed the House of Representatives on...

This month the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA) published the following publications, in English, concerning nanomaterials: Better control of nanomaterials — summary of the 4-year Danish initiative on nanomaterials: The “Better control of nanomaterials” initiative intended to create an overview of the possible risks of using nanomaterials, focusing on consumers and the environment. The report states: “Generally, there is still a need for more information on where...

On November 10, 2015, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency posted the following publications concerning nanomaterials: Environmental assessment of nanomaterial use in Denmark: This is the concluding report of the project “Nanomaterials — occurrence and effects in the Danish environment” (NanoDEN). The projects in NanoDEN aimed to investigate and generate new environmentally relevant knowledge concerning nanomaterials on the Danish market and to assess the possible associated risks to...

Lynn L. Bergeson was quoted in the October 15, 2015, BNA Daily Environment Report article “Uncertain Regulatory Path Costs Biotech Companies” about the recent Wilson Center report “The DNA of the U.S. Regulatory System: Are We Getting it Right for Synthetic Biology?”: Getting regulatory approval for products made with synthetic biology techniques is a daunting process, Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of Bergeson & Campbell P.C., and co-author of the report, said during...

On July 13, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the winners of the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards (PGCCA) and honored them at a ceremony at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. The PGCCAs were created in partnership with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute® and other members of the chemical community to promote the environmental and economic benefits of green chemistry. The six different categories for...

With the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards (PGCCA) ceremony drawing near, the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group's (BRAG®) Biobased News and Policy Report decided to go back and revisit some early winners to see what has become of the award-winning product or technology. We will be running a new story each week as we approach this year's awards ceremony, occurring July 13, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. (EDT), at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington,...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee convened a markup session on June 2 and 3, 2015, to consider a slightly revised version of the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 as H.R. 2576. As reported in our June 3, 2015, memorandum, the House Committee passed the marked up bill. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy had considered and passed an earlier discussion draft version of the TSCA Modernization Act (TMA2 DD) in May 2015, while an initial discussion draft...

On May 12, 2015, Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, released a new (second) draft of the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 (TMA2 DD). In April, Shimkus released an initial discussion draft of the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 (TMA1); our memorandum on TMA1 is available online. In the previous Congress, Shimkus introduced first a discussion draft of the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA1), and then a...

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold its next webinar focusing on the experiences, successes, and challenges for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) working in nanotechnology and on issues of interest to the business community on May 20, 2015, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. (EDT).  The webinar will include the following speakers: Ajay P. Malshe, Founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Technical Officer of NanoMech. NanoMech has developed patented...