All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On March 7, 2014, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted a report entitled Ecotoxicology and Environmental Fate of Manufactured Nanomaterials: Test Guidelines, which provides a report of the discussion and recommendations from the January 2013 expert meeting on ecotoxicology and environmental fate. As part of OECD’s Program on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, it initiated a series of expert meetings intended to improve the applicability...

The EU has launched a new four-year research project called Bio-Qed, which will focus on developing biobased chemicals from renewable sources. The project has ten partners from Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Croatia, and Spain.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has awarded more than $3 million in funding to four research institutions to study how chemicals behave when they come into contact with biological systems. The projects will focus on developing better models that predict the connection between exposures to chemicals and the chain of events that lead to an unwanted health effect. The results are expected to assist EPA in its mission to protect human health and the environment, to...

On February 5, 2014, Purdue University announced that three researchers in the University's colleges of Engineering and Science received more than $130,000 from the Trask Innovation Fund to develop their work. One of these researchers was awarded $50,000 for "Selective Catalysis for the Production of High Value Flavor and Fragrance Chemicals from Wood Biomass." A copy of Purdue University's press release is available online.

On December 11, 2013, EPA gave a Green Chemistry award to Professor Richard Wool of the University of Delaware for his work to develop biobased products such as adhesives, composites, and foams from renewable feedstocks, including vegetable oils, chicken feathers, and flax. The EPA grants Green Chemistry Awards each year to recognize "landmark green chemistry technologies developed by industrial pioneers and leading scientists that are contributing to the use of chemicals and products that...

On December 20, 2013, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a document entitled Protecting the Nanotechnology Workforce: NIOSH Nanotechnology Research and Guidance Strategic Plan, 2013-2016. NIOSH describes the document as “the roadmap being used to advance basic understanding of the toxicology and workplace exposures involved so that appropriate risk management practices can be implemented during discovery, development, and...

On December 13, 2013, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) released its preliminary opinion on “Nanosilver: safety, health and environmental effects and role in antimicrobial resistance.” The opinion is intended to assess whether the use of nanosilver, in particular in medical care and in consumer products, could result in additional risks compared to more traditional uses of silver, and whether the use of...

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) announced on November 27, 2013, that it completed NanoView, a research project on the perception of nanotechnology by the German population and media. Under the project, BfR examined whether the population’s perceptions and attitudes towards nanotechnology have changed over the last five years, as well as whether the presentation of nanotechnology in the media has changed.  According to BfR, the results show that the majority of respondents...

On November 19, 2013, the National Science and Technology Council, Committee on Technology, and Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology requested public comments on the draft 2014 National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan provides the framework within which each National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) agency will carry out its nanotechnology programs and is intended to sustain coordination of interagency activities. The Strategic Plan...

On October 21, 2013, Particle and Fibre Toxicology posted an article entitled “Carbon nanotube dosimetry: from workplace exposure assessment to inhalation toxicology.”  The authors, who are affiliated with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), note that there are currently no known end-point effects in humans following carbon nanotube (CNT) exposure, leading to extrapolation from rodent studies. The purpose of the study was to determine...

The Product Quality Research Institute (PQRI) will hold a January 14-15, 2014, workshop on “Nanomaterial Drug Products: Current Experience and Management of Potential Risks.” The goals and objectives of the workshop, which is co-sponsored by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and endorsed by the Society of Toxicology (SOT) are to: Review analytical science and methods for characterizing nanomaterials; Share...

On September 12, 2013, the National Research Council (NRC) released a report entitled Research Progress on Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked the NRC to perform an independent study to develop and monitor the implementation of an integrated research strategy to address the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) aspects of engineered nanomaterials (ENM). The Committee to Develop a Research...

On August 9, 2013, Particle and Fibre Toxicology published a study entitled “Extrapulmonary transport of MWCNT following inhalation exposure.” The authors report that inhalation exposure studies of mice were conducted to determine if multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) distribute to the tracheobronchial lymphatics, parietal pleura, respiratory musculature, and/or extrapulmonary organs. The study states that tracheobronchial lymph nodes were found to contain 1.08 and 7.34 percent of the...

ACS Nano has published an article entitled “A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on the Use of Alternative Test Strategies for Nanomaterial Safety Assessment,” which is co-authored by Lynn L. Bergeson. The article presents the results of a January 2013 workshop convened at the California NanoSystems Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and hosted by the University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, as well as the UCLA Center for...

On July 30, 2013, Particle and Fibre Toxicology published a study entitled “Distribution and fibrotic response following inhalation exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes.” In the study, the authors tested the hypothesis that inhalation exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) produces a fibrotic response and that the response is chronically persistent. Male C57BL/6 J mice were exposed in a whole-body inhalation system to a MWCNT aerosol, and the authors examined the fibrotic...

On April 15, 2013, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) and NanoQuébec announced they will jointly fund three new research projects on worker exposure to engineered nanoparticles. The principal researchers for these projects, their affiliations, and the titles of the projects selected are: Nathalie Tufenkji, McGill University, “Measuring the Effectiveness of Protective Gloves for Working with Nanoparticles in Conditions...

The National Research Council (NRC) announced on April 23, 2013, that its second triennial review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) identified five “cross-cutting, high-priority areas for focus and improvement for NNI going forward”: Improve information gathering and communication at the project level; Develop and implement interagency plans for focused areas; Rework the NNI website to serve better the diversity of stakeholder groups; Take advantage of new...

The Industry Consortium for Environmental Measurement of Nanomaterials (ICEMN) announced today the release of a series of articles to serve as a practical guide for state and federal regulatory agencies tasked with measuring engineered nanomaterials in the environment. The articles, published in the March 2013 special issue of Environmental Engineering Sciences, were prepared by academic and industrial scientists from ICEMN and focus on the techniques and issues around nanomaterial...

On March 11, 2013, at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported preliminary findings from a new laboratory study in which mice were exposed by inhalation to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). According to NIOSH, the study was designed to investigate whether these tiny particles have potential to initiate or promote cancer. One group of laboratory mice was injected with a...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published on February 14, 2013, the updated Current Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The purpose of the Tour de Table is to allow each delegation the opportunity to describe recent or planned national initiatives and/or events related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. According to OECD, this will facilitate the implementation of the projects of the WPMN by...