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By Lynn L. Bergeson The European Commission (EC) will host a webinar on biobased products developed from fast pyrolysis oil, where four companies will present their work. A technology that can convert a wide range of biomass into clean and uniform bio-oil that is easy to transport and store, fast pyrolysis has mostly focused, thus far, on the use of pyrolysis oil for energy purposes. According to EC, the Horizon 2020 project called Bio4Products, however, has recently developed a technology to...

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced on February 6, 2020, that the European Commission (EC) has requested scientific advice on the safety of nanomaterials in cosmetics.  The EC seeks advices on two questions: The EC requests that SCCS determine the nanomaterials, as published in the recent catalogue of nanomaterials of 2019, for which specific concerns can be identified and justified to establish a priority list of nanomaterials for risk assessment (Article...

The European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) recently published a JRC Science for Policy Report entitled Identification of nanomaterials through measurements that is intended to support the implementation of the EC’s Recommendation on the definition of nanomaterials (2011/696/EU).  It is a follow-up of a previous JRC Science for Policy Report on concepts and terms used in the definition.  The present report addresses identification of nanomaterials...

On December 11, 2019, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “The innovator, the regulator and the citizen — building public trust through transparent, empowered and safe innovation.”  Carlos Eduardo Lima da Cunha, the European Commission (EC), explains how the EU is supporting safe by design approaches to new technologies such as nanomaterials to deliver safer products to the market.  Lima da Cunha notes that the EU has...

The European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) recently published a white paper entitled Anticipation of regulatory needs for nanotechnology-enabled health products.  The white paper notes that at this time, “no specific regulatory framework exists for nanotechnology-enabled health products but the current regulatory practice requires additional guidance in order to fully cover the particularities of such products.”  The white paper identifies the following major...

On November 22, 2019, the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) requested two scientific opinions from the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS): Request for a scientific opinion on platinum (nano)-colloidal platinum (nano) (Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) No. 7440-06-4, EC No. 231-116-1) and acetyl tetrapeptide-17 colloidal platinum (nano) (CAS and EC Nos. not available); and Request...

The European Commission (EC) announced on November 15, 2019, that it published an updated catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetic products on the European Union (EU) market.  As reported in our June 19, 2017, blog item, the EC first published a catalog in June 2017.  The catalog compiles information that responsible persons shared with the EC through the cosmetic products notification portal (CPNP) as of December 31, 2018.  The catalog lists 27 nanomaterials used...

On November 4, 2019, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published an updated Guidance on the Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Cosmetics.  The Guidance updates SCCS’s 2012 Guidance (SCCS/1484/12) on the safety assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetic products.  It covers the main elements of safety assessment — general considerations (Section 2), material characterization (Section 3), exposure assessment (Section 4), hazard...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issued a press release on October 8, 2019, reminding companies that by January 1, 2020, companies must provide more information on nanomaterials on the European Union (EU) market under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.  The new information requirements concern companies that manufacture or import nanoforms of substances that are subject to registration under REACH.  As...

On November 12, 2019, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will hold a webinar on the amended information requirements for nanoforms under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.  As reported in our December 4, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) announced on December 3, 2018, that it adopted amendments to several REACH Annexes to clarify the information requirements for nanomaterials.  The amended...