All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On February 27, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the availability of a draft chapter to be published in the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods entitled “Analysis of Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers on Mixed Cellulose Ester Filters by Transmission Electron Microscopy” for public comment.  The draft chapter provides standardized approaches for the analysis of carbon nanoparticles.  NIOSH states that these standardized...

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) published a news item on January 16, 2017, entitled “Nanoparticles — to handle with care.”  IRSST states that although research is still in development, it appears that nanoparticles can enter the respiratory tract or penetrate through the skin and make their way to the bloodstream, which may carry the nanoparticles to various organs.  While studies have been...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a report entitled Alternative Testing Strategies in Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials:  Current State of Knowledge and Research Needs to Advance Their Use.  Experts from academia, industry, public interest groups, and government researched, analyzed, and discussed how alternative models could be used to advance the risk analysis of manufactured nanomaterials.  The objectives were to...

On January 19, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), together with a host of other federal agencies, announced revisions via a final rule to modernize, strengthen, and make more effective the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects that was originally promulgated as a Common Rule in 1991.  82 Fed. Reg. 7151.  The Federal Register publication states that this final rule is intended to “better protect human subjects involved in research,...

On December 29, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice regarding the availability of final test guidelines, OCSPP Series 850 Group A -- Ecological Effects, part of a series of test guidelines established by the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) for use in testing pesticides and chemical substances to develop data for submission to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and...

On December 20, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the start of a pilot program to evaluate the usefulness and acceptability of a mathematical tool (the GHS Mixtures Equation), which is used in the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).  EPA states that the goal of the pilot program is to “evaluate the utility and acceptability of the GHS Mixtures Equation as an alternative to animal oral and inhalation toxicity...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released on December 20, 2016, a white paper entitled Sustainability in the Workplace:  A New Approach for Advancing Worker Safety and Health.  The paper highlights the importance of including worker safety and health in the growing movement toward sustainability and corporate responsibility.  According to the paper, research on sustainability does not include occupational safety and health.  The paper notes that...

On November 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its partners celebrated the successful journey of the first commercial flight powered in part by a new renewable fuel made from wood waste. The demonstration flight, operated by Alaska Airlines, was made possible due to a five-year $39.6 million research project to develop a viable renewable fuel source from cellulose-rich wood harvest leftovers funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and led by...

On November 1, 2016, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) issued a call for panel session proposals for the 2017 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology.  Leaders from biotechnology, bioenergy, chemical, consumer products manufacturing, and agricultural industries as well as academia and financial sectors industries are invited to submit proposals to present on groundbreaking research and partnerships in the industrial biobased industry.  Specific program tracks for the ...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published ISO/TR 18196:2016, “Nanotechnologies — Measurement technique matrix for the characterization of nano-objects.”  The document provides a matrix intended to guide users to commercially available techniques relevant to the measurements of common physiochemical parameters for nano-objects.  Some techniques are also applicable to nanostructured materials.  As scientific advances are made and additional...

On November 1, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) announced a meeting of the Board of Scientific Counselors’ (BOSC) Chemical Safety for Sustainability Subcommittee meeting via notice in the Federal Register.  This meeting will be held at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Main Campus Facility in North Carolina, and will be open to the public.  Those interested in attending must register online by...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published ISO/TR 16196:2016, “Nanotechnologies — Compilation and description of sample preparation and dosing methods for engineered and manufactured nanomaterials.”  The goal of the standard is to assist scientists and experts to understand, plan, choose, and address issues relevant to nanomaterials before and during toxicological testing.  The descriptions of sample preparation method factors for both in vitro and in...

On September 19, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report, EPA Needs a Risk-Based Strategy to Assure Continued Effectiveness of Hospital-Level Disinfectants, the result of OIG’s review of EPA’s Antimicrobial Testing Program (ATP) to “determine whether the program ensures the efficacy of EPA-registered hospital sterilants, disinfectants, and tuberculocides (“hospital-level disinfectants”); and to evaluate options for...

The threat of the Zika Virus grows every day, and the need for clear information is especially pressing if you are pregnant.  How do you prevent getting infected with the Zika Virus, and what insect repellents are best?  The first question is easy to answer:  public health experts agree that women who are pregnant or who might be pregnant should use insect repellents.  The answer to the second question is not so simple. I am a former senior official at the U.S. Environmental...

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requested a review of the already marketed and in-development applications of nanomaterials in the agri/feed/food sectors.  The results of the review are published in the August 2016 issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology in an article entitled “Nanomaterials for products and application in agriculture, feed and food.”  The article highlights include: Nanotechnology is applied in agricultural production, animal feed,...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published several dossier summaries for nanomaterials tested as part of its Testing Program of Manufactured Nanomaterials.  Under the Program, sponsors tested 11 nanomaterials for:  nanomaterial information/identification; physical-chemical properties and material characterization; environmental fate; toxicological and eco-toxicological effects; environmental toxicology; mammalian toxicology; and material...

On June 28, 2016, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) issued a press release announcing the availability of a study on “Efficiency Evaluation of N95 FFRs under Cyclic and Constant Flows.”  Researchers tested the efficacy of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) in conditions of constant and cyclical air flow, simulating human breathing, from 42 to 360 liters per minute.  According to the press release, N95 respirators “are the personal...

On June 15, 2016, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted a number of Program Performance One-Pagers (PPOP), including a May 2016 PPOP on the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC).  The PPOP states that the NTRC focuses on increasing understanding of hazards and related health risks to workers who make and use nanomaterials and preventing occupational exposures to nanomaterials.  The PPOP includes the following future NIOSH actions:...

The May 2016 issue of NIOSH Research Rounds includes an item entitled “Research Explores Workplace Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes.”  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) summarizes the following two published papers by NIOSH investigators with partners at Kazan State Medical University, in Kazan, Russia, that explore whether workplace exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes could pose a risk for lung disease.  For both studies, participants...

On April 19, 2016, the European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster announced the availability of the “Closer to the Market” Roadmap (CTTM).  The NanoSafety Cluster states that the CTTM is a “multi-dimensional, stepwise plan targeting a framework to deliver safe nano-enabled products to the market.”  The steps include:  (1) building an inclusive collaboration network; (2) bringing together scientific and entrepreneurial experts; (3) strengthening dialog of all stakeholders to raise...