All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The European Commission (EC) has published a success story, “Controlling light at the nanoscale thanks to graphene.”  The EC notes graphene, “an atomically thin lattice of carbon, has many exceptional properties.”  A European Union (EU)-funded project is focusing on the unique capabilities of graphene plasmons to transport and control light emissions at spatial scales far smaller than their wavelength.  They can be exploited in numerous applications, including for infrared biosensing...

The September 2018 issue of the ECHA Newsletter includes an article entitled “Are the new REACH information requirements for nanos relevant for you?” written by Jenny Holmqvist, Coordinator for Nanomaterials for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).  As reported in our April 26, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Committee voted on April 26, 2018, to amend several REACH Annexes to...

The European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center has published a Technical Report entitled Mapping Nanomedicine Terminology in the Regulatory Landscape.  According to the abstract, to support a better understanding of terms used in the regulatory domain, the Nanomedicines Working Group of the International Pharmaceutical Regulators Forum (IPRF) prioritized the need to map, compile, and discuss the currently used terminology of regulatory scientists coming from different geographic...

The July 19, 2018, issue of the European Commission’s (EC) Health-EU Newsletter includes an editorial entitled “The only concern to have about sunscreen is … did you remember to put it on?” written by Qasim Chaudhry, Chair of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) and Ulrike Bernauer, Chair of the SCCS Working Group on Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products.  According to the editorial, nanomaterials as cosmetic ingredients serve various functions, including as...

On July 17, 2018, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced the availability of a study that it commissioned, Critical review of the relevance and reliability of data sources, methods, parameters and determining factors to produce market studies on manufactured nanomaterials on the EU market.  The study presents the results of a critical review of the relevance and reliability of data sources, methods, parameters, and determining factors to...

The European Commission (EC) announced on June 15, 2018, that researchers from the European Union (EU)-funded NANOPACK project found a solution for extending food shelf-life by using smart antimicrobial surfaces applied to active food packaging.  According to the EC, the researchers are now running five pilot production runs of the new polymer composite, based on tiny nanotube formations, to test its technical, industrial, and commercial viability.  The researchers “form...

On June 25, 2018, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on styrene/acrylates copolymer (nano) and sodium styrene/acrylates copolymer (nano).  The EC received eight notifications of cosmetic ingredients containing the copolymers in nano forms.  According to the applicants, the ingredients are used in nano-coated form in leave-on cosmetic products with maximum reported concentration limits of 0.06 percent. ...

The “2nd Quantifying Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials from Manufactured Products (QEEN II) Workshop” will be held October 9-10, 2018, in Washington, D.C.  Sponsored by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and co-hosted by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the Workshop will highlight new research on the tools and methods available to characterize and quantify effective population exposures, as well as the presence and release potential of...

The European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) has posted the workshop report from the March 9, 2018, Stakeholder Dialogue meeting.  According to the report, the annual meeting focused on providing an update on EUON and allowing stakeholders an opportunity to share their views on expectations on the future development of EUON.  During his welcome address, Jukka Malm, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), acknowledged that some stakeholders preferred a mandatory register...

The European Commission (EC) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Committee voted on April 26, 2018, to amend several REACH Annexes to clarify the registration requirements for nanomaterials.  According to the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) press release, the amendments address the knowledge gap regarding which substances registered under REACH are placed on the market as nanomaterials and in what quantities.  ECHA states that the...