On April 16, 2010, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published a list of substances that companies intend to register under the European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation by the November 30, 2010, deadline. The list is based on feedback received from companies and registrations already submitted via the authorized channels. One reason that this exercise is likely being undertaken now by ECHA is to enable ECHA to identify...
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced that laboratory studies, reported in a paper posted online by the journal Nature Nanotechnology on April 4, 2010, discovered that carbon nanotubes were biodegraded by an enzyme found in white blood cells, neutrophils. According to NIOSH, the researchers demonstrated that, unlike carbon nanotubes that were not biodegraded in this way, the biodegraded nanotubes did not cause inflammation in the lungs of mice. NIOSH...
The April 19, 2010, issue of BNA Daily Environmental Report quotes Charles M. Auer, former Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), and James V. Aidala, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, regarding the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform legislation released by Congress....
The BNA Daily Environment Report quotes Lynn L. Bergeson regarding the House and Senate bills that would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Bergeson noted that the Senate bill’s focus on new chemicals made in quantities above one million pounds annually could limit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) review of many nanomanufactured chemicals, as they would not hit that production level in a single year, while other aspects of the Senate bill show...
In a February 15, 2010, article entitled “ZnO Particulate Matter Requires Cell Contact for Toxicity in Human Colon Cancer Cells,” researchers report their results of a comparison of the toxicity of two commercial types of zinc oxide (ZnO) to colon cells. According to the researchers, the nano-sized ZnO was more cytotoxic than micrometer-sized ZnO. The researchers state: “Unintended exposure to nano-sized zinc oxide from children accidentally eating sunscreen products is a typical public...
On March 30, 2010, Michael Bellot, Chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chemical Risk and Reporting Enforcement Branch, of the Office of Civil Enforcement, Waste and Chemical Enforcement Division, spoke at the Global Chemical Regulations Conference last week. Bellot described manufacturers of nanoscale materials as a “target-rich environment,” and stated that two-thirds of EPA’s 2009 chemical enforcement activity focused on nanoscale materials manufacturers. EPA did...
Today Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) released the text of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, which is intended to address the “core failings” of TSCA. Representatives Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a discussion draft of their legislation, the Toxics Chemicals Safety Act of 2010, and announced an aggressive schedule that seeks to complete action by “mid-summer.” Lautenberg’s Safe Chemicals Act would: Links to the bills, summaries, and other related materials...
On April 5, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded $2.38 million to 34 small businesses to develop “innovative, sustainable technologies to protect human health and the environment.” The awards focus on the following environmental research areas: increasing the efficiency of green building materials and systems; manufacturing innovation; prevention, monitoring, and control using nanotechnology;...
A Recent co-authored paper discussed a number of fundamental changes in U.S. regulation of commercial chemicals that should be considered in revising the Toxic Substances Control Act. As discussed in that paper, while the Environmental Protection Agency under TSCA has broad authority to require testing and reporting of hazard and exposure information on existing chemicals via rulemaking, deploying these authorities have proven cumbersome and inadequate for dealing effectively with the thousands...
April 13, 2010
New OSTP Group Will Address Nanotechnology Issues
During the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s (NNI) March 30-31, 2010, conference regarding “Risk Management Methods & Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications of Nanotechnology,” Tom Kalil, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), announced that the OSTP would create a new interagency group on emerging technologies, including nanotechnology. Kalil’s announcement is reported in an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) policy alert, which...