All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On September 13, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Can the Brain’s Gatekeeper Fight a Nano-Attack?” by Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones, Professor of Environmental Nanoscience at the University of Birmingham, who co-authored an article entitled “Biotransformation modulates the penetration of metallic nanomaterials across an artificial blood–brain barrier model.” The researchers set out to explore systematically how...

On June 28, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Models to Characterize Exposures to Manufactured Nanomaterials in OECD” by Vladimir Murashov, Ph.D., Senior Scientist in the Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and John Howard, M.D., Director of NIOSH and Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The authors...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on June 17, 2022, that it is looking for topics that could be addressed in its upcoming studies. EUON conducts up to three studies annually to address knowledge gaps on nanomaterials. EUON is looking for study topics that address: Questions related to the health and safety aspects of nanomaterials, including hazard and risk assessment, exposure to nanomaterials, or worker safety and protection; Specific issues...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on June 10, 2022, that NanoData has been updated with “a new look and feel to improve the user experience.” NanoData is the knowledge base on nanosciences and -technology hosted by EUON. It contains data on different products, research projects, publications, patents, and organizations. According to EUON, users can now visualize statistics through built-in charts and graphs. The data can be easily...

On May 31, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Urinary MicroRNA-based Early Cancer Detection Using Nanowire-based Devices” by Dr. Yasui Takao on using nanowire devices to extract microRNAs (miRNA) from urine to distinguish cancer patients from healthy individuals and improve the early detection of cancer. According to Yasui, researchers designed a device equipped with 100 million zinc oxide nanowires that can extract a...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) has launched two calls for tenders to conduct studies on nanomaterials. The first call for tender is on valid in silico modeling tools and read-across approaches, including creating case studies on read-across for specific types of nanomaterials. According to the call for tender, the study proposes to examine the use of these tools for nanomaterials and to draw potential conclusions (for both regulators and industry/small-...

On February 24, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Are nanoplastics hazardous? The way forward to overcome the uncertainties of risk assessment” by Dr. Anita Jemec Kokalj and Dr. Dana Kühnel about defining the criteria to evaluate which properties of nanoplastics should be reported in future studies to decrease uncertainties in their risk assessment. The authors state that nanoplastics “are complex environmental pollutants...

On January 18, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “What does ‘Graphene’ really look like and why is it not ‘carbon nanotubes’” by Dr. Alberto Bianco, Dr. Maurizio Prato, and Dr. Kostas Kostarelos, of the Graphene Flagship, an EU research initiative, about graphene and why it is not the same as carbon nanotubes. The article states that in particular, the authors wish to emphasize “that ‘graphene’ as a single type of...

On December 21, 2021, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “ACEnano: Goodbye, Hello” by Dr. Eugenia Valsami-Jones about Project ACEnano, a Horizon2020 project that recently completed its 4.5-year course. The project’s main goal was to strengthen clarity into nanomaterial risk assessment using a tiered approach to the physicochemical characterization of nanomaterials. Valsami-Jones describes the analytical solutions produced by...

On November 15, 2021, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced the release of a report that it commissioned entitled “Study on the Product Lifecycles, Waste Recycling and the Circular Economy for Nanomaterials.” The study updates and expands on the 2016 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) document entitled “Nanomaterials in Waste Streams — Current Knowledge on Risks and Impacts.” The report covers waste streams containing...