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The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has published key takeaways and a transcript for the September 19, 2018, webinar, “Technology Pathways Toward Commercializing Nanotechnology.”  The webinar focused on quality control in the manufacturing process and built on NNI’s November 2017 Technology Pathways workshop.  Webinar panelists Katherine Barton, Laboratory and Production Manager at Nano-C, and Doug Singer, Executive Vice President in Charge of Manufacturing,...

The German Environment Agency (UBA) in October 2018 published a study entitled Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles:  Systematic literature search and the potential transferability of the results to the German setting.  The study notes that ultrafine particles represent the smallest size fractions of particles with sizes from one to about 100 nanometers in aerodynamic diameter.  Their specific health effects are thus related to their physical capacity to reach diverse organ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on October 10, 2018, a direct final  rule promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) for 28 chemical substances, including  single-walled carbon nanotubes, that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  The chemical substances are subject to orders issued by EPA pursuant to Section 5(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The direct final rule requires persons who intend to manufacture...

On September 12-13, 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NanoReg2, and GRACIOUS hosted a “Scientific Workshop:  Grouping of Nanomaterials.”  The Workshop brought together 120 nanotechnology specialists from Europe, North America, and Asia to discuss a bottleneck in nanomaterials development and testing.  The agenda and the following slides from the workshop have been posted online: Welcome slides. Session 1: Nanomaterial Grouping: ...

On September 21, 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced four new case studies on integrated approaches for testing and assessment (IATA), including a Case Study on Grouping and Read-Across for Nanomaterials — Genotoxicity of Nano-TiO2.  The European Union (EU) Joint Research Center (JRC) developed the case study for the genotoxicity of nano-titanium dioxide (TiO2) for illustrating the practical use of IATA.  The case study applies the...

On September 26, 2018, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will discuss the Fiscal Year 2019 Operating Plan.  According to the Operating Plan, in fiscal year (FY) 2019, CPSC will continue supporting nanotechnology research and working with other federal agencies under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) to minimize duplication and overlap of existing research efforts.  CPSC will undertake the following collaborative research activities:...

Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) has published a report entitled Comparison of Inhalation and Intratracheal Instillation as Testing Methods for Characterisation of Granular Biopersistent Particles (GBP).  In Project F 2364, researchers conducted an in vivo validation study to evaluate the consistency of data with results obtained in the preceding intratracheal instillation study in Project F 2336.  The abstract states that the same...

The European Commission (EC) has published a success story, “Controlling light at the nanoscale thanks to graphene.”  The EC notes graphene, “an atomically thin lattice of carbon, has many exceptional properties.”  A European Union (EU)-funded project is focusing on the unique capabilities of graphene plasmons to transport and control light emissions at spatial scales far smaller than their wavelength.  They can be exploited in numerous applications, including for infrared biosensing...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on September 7, 2018, that a new study found gaps in the current knowledge on the hazard and risk assessment of nano-sized pigments.  The study, commissioned by EUON, identified 81 nano-sized pigments currently used in the EU market.  The study was done to collect publicly available information on the identified nano-sized pigments that are on the EU market.  EUON states that the findings “show that the risks of...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has published The National Nanotechnology Initiative Supplement to the President’s 2019 Budget.  The August 2018 document not only supplements the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2019, but also serves as NNI’s annual report and addresses the requirement for Department of Defense (DOD) reporting on its nanotechnology investments.  President Trump requests nearly $1.4 billion for NNI, “a continued investment in...

The European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center has published a Technical Report entitled Mapping Nanomedicine Terminology in the Regulatory Landscape.  According to the abstract, to support a better understanding of terms used in the regulatory domain, the Nanomedicines Working Group of the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Forum (IPRF) prioritized the need to map, compile, and discuss the currently used terminology of regulatory scientists coming from different geographic...

Registration has opened for an August 20, 2018, webinar on “NanoEHS and Nanomedicine:  Similarities and Synergisms.”  The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) notes that there are many synergies between nanomedicine research, which addresses (among other topics) issues of efficacy and safety, and studies on the environmental, health, and safety effects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS), which include the exploration of potential toxicity and exposures.  Research in these...

In July 2018, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), Human Health Assessment (HHA) Branch, issued its final toxic air contaminant (TAC) evaluation of chlorpyrifos.  This final TAC evaluation updates the December 2017 draft evaluation of chlorpyrifos as a TAC for the Scientific Review Panel (SRP) which updated the August 2017 draft and was reviewed by the SRP on TACs, and incorporates certain changes based on SRP...

The July 2018 issue of the EFSA Journal includes an article entitled “Evaluation of four new studies on the potential toxicity of titanium dioxide used as a food additive (E 171).”  The European Commission (EC) asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to carry out a scientific evaluation on four studies on the potential toxicity of titanium dioxide used as a food additive (E 171) and to indicate whether they would merit re-opening EFSA’s 2016 opinion on the safety of titanium...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 16, 2018, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $12 million investment in the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Processing and Storage Technologies (SemiSynBio) program, a partnership between NSF and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC).  Researches expect that integrating biological structures with semiconductor technology could increase current data storage capabilities by 1,000 times, while using less energy than current...

On June 19, 2018, 16 federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), issued a final rule delaying until January 21, 2019, the general compliance date for 2017 revisions to the policy governing studies with human subjects that are sponsored or utilized for regulatory purposes by the federal government (83 Fed. Reg. 28497).  These revisions to the human testing policy were adopted on January 19, 2017, in a final rule (82 Fed. Reg. 7149) that amended and...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published a May 22, 2018, report entitled Assessment of Biodurability of Nanomaterials and their Surface ligands.  The purpose of the report was to compile the relevant information on the biodurability of the pristine and functionalized nanomaterials in biological and environmental media in vitro and in vivo, as well as describing methods for measuring the stability and halftimes of nanomaterials. ...

The 32nd Triennial Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) was held April 29 through May 4, 2018, in Dublin, Ireland.  Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) has published the abstracts for the Congress online, including the following ones concerning nanomaterials: “Update of potential hazards of nanomaterials,” by PA Schulte, I Iavicoli; “Overview — update of potential hazards of engineered nanomaterials,” by PA Schulte;...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice on April 24, 2018, announcing the availability of a draft research plan entitled Continuing to Protect the Nanotechnology Workforce:  NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Plan for 2018-2025 for public comment.  The draft Nanotechnology Research Plan presents the Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC) strategic plan for fiscal years (FY) 2018-2025, highlighting how the...

On April 10, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a draft Science Policy document intended to reduce the use of animals in testing chemicals to evaluate whether they cause an allergic reaction, inflammation, or sensitization of the skin.  According to EPA, the document, Draft Interim Science Policy:  Use of Alternative Approaches for Skin Sensitization as a Replacement for Laboratory Animal Testing, “describes the science...