On July 28, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) clarified its June 24, 2009, final Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) for multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT). According to EPA, upon review of the final rule, stakeholders asked whether the SNURs applied to all types of CNTs. EPA responded: This is not the case. These SNURs only apply to the specific carbon nanotubes that were the subject of the premanufacture notices (PMN)...
July 31, 2009
ETC Group Issues Report on Nanogeopolitics
Earlier this month, in advance of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) July 15-17, 2009, Conference on Potential Environmental Benefits of Nanotechnology: Fostering Safe Innovation-Led Growth, the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration (ETC Group) issued a draft report entitled Nanogeopolitics 2009: The Second Survey. ETC Group recommends that policies concerning nanotechnologies be developed within the United Nations (UN) system, “where...
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has posted a link to an article entitled “National Nanotechnology Partnership to Protect Workers,” which proposes the creation of a National Nanotechnology Partnership led by NIOSH. The article, posted online on July 7, 2009, by the Journal of Nanoparticle Research, suggests the partnership be a collaboration of government agencies, manufacturers, users, and others. The authors are John Howard, M.D. former NIOSH Director,...
On July 15, 2009, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced plans to hold a conference entitled “Nanomaterials and Worker Health: Occupational Health Surveillance, Exposure Registries, and Epidemiological Research.” The conference is intended to identify gaps in information about potential occupational health effects of nanomaterials, as well as address questions related to occupational health and safety. According to NIOSH’s website, the...
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July 21, 2009
PEN Announces Report on Contaminated Site Remediation
On July 8, 2009, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) announced the availability of an article entitled Nanotechnology and In situ Remediation: A review of the benefits and potential risks, which discusses the use of nanomaterials in the environmental cleanup process. According to the article, nanomaterials have the potential to reduce the costs and time of cleaning up contaminated sites, as well as eliminate the need for treatment...
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On June 16, 2009, the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) released a report entitled Bridging the Credibility Gap: Eight Corporate Liability Accounting Loopholes that Regulators Must Close, which discusses the effect of undisclosed potential and pending liabilities on investors. The report identifies eight regulatory loopholes that businesses could use to hide future liabilities from an investor’s risk assessment. Two case studies for asbestos and nanomaterials...
On June 25, 2009, the Norwegian Board of Technology announced that the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) has established “a scheme for Norwegian businesses to report their use of nanomaterials in chemical products.” According to a spokesperson for the Board, until now the Norwegian market has “lacked oversight of nanomaterials.” Under the scheme, information about nanomaterials in chemical products will be incorporated as a separate topic in declarations to the...
July 6, 2009
Memorandum – ECHA Risk Assessment Committee Adopts First Opinion on Harmonized Classification
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