June 21, 2011

Lynn L. Bergeson, “Protect Yourself,” Manufacturing Today, Summer 2011.

For the manufacturing work force, selecting and requiring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of the most important elements of assuring a safe and healthful work environment. What PPE to wear, who pays for it and how to determine which is the right PPE to protect against a known hazard in the workplace are all critically important issues, both from the perspective of an employee’s personal safety and an employer’s freedom from allegations of non-compliance. Eliminating the...
June 21, 2011

Lynn L. Bergeson, “State Chemical Reform Initiatives:  Advocates Press for Change,” Environmental Quality Management, Summer 2011.

The federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has remained largely unchanged since its adoption in 1976, some 35 years ago. Congressional inaction has not gone unnoticed by state governments, which are increasingly dismayed by their federal counterpart’s seeming indifference to the public’s demand for stricter chemical controls and its growing distrust of federal chemical-control measures. As a result, states are taking matters into their own hands by adopting laws, resolutions, and...
June 20, 2011

Nanotechnology Caucus Will Hold Lecture on June 22

The Nanotechnology Caucus will hold a lecture entitled "Nanotechnology 101" on June 22, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The agenda includes: Opening Remarks: Vincent Caprio, Executive Director, NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NanoBCA); Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR); Sally Tinkle, Ph.D., Acting Director, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee, Committee on Technology...
June 17, 2011

FDA Takes Action to Update Sunscreen Testing and Labeling and States Nanoscale Ingredients Are Not Absorbed

On June 14, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took long-awaited action to update regulations for testing and labeling over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreen products. The Agency emphasized that the primary intent of its initiative was to establish a consistent standard for testing and labeling sunscreen products to reduce consumer confusion and encourage proper use of these products to enhance their protective function. The most significant elements of FDA's action include changes in...
June 17, 2011

EPA Proposes Policy on Nanoscale Materials in Pesticide Products

The U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the June 17, 2011, Federal Register a notice describing several possible approaches for obtaining certain additional information on the composition of pesticide products. EPA focuses particularly on information about what nanoscale materials are present in registered pesticide products, and defines “nanoscale material” as “an active or inert ingredient and any component parts thereof intentionally produced to have at least one...
June 16, 2011

Lautenberg and Inhofe Will Hold Stakeholder Meeting on TSCA Reform

Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health, and James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced that their staffs will co-host on June 21, 2011, the first of several stakeholder meetings concerning reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Lautenberg introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847), which is intended to modernize TSCA to...
June 15, 2011

Nanotechnology Caucus Will Hold Lecture on June 22

The Nanotechnology Caucus will hold a lecture entitled “Nanotechnology 101” on June 22, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) in Room 253 of the Dirksen Senate Building. The agenda includes: Opening Remarks: Vincent Caprio, Executive Director, NanoBusiness Commercialization Association; Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR); Sally Tinkle, Ph.D., Acting Director, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee, Committee on Technology...
June 15, 2011

Lynn L. Bergeson, James V. Aidala, and Charles M. Auer, “Principles For Regulating Nanotech,” Law 360, June 15, 2011.

On June 9, 2011, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced that the White House Emerging Technologies Interagency Policy Coordination Committee (ETIPC) has developed a set of principles specific to the regulation and oversight of applications of nanotechnology. The principles are intended to guide the development and implementation of policies, as described in the title "U.S. decision-making concerning regulation and oversight of nanotechnology and nanomaterials" that occur at...