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On May 5, 2020, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “NanoApp helps navigate legal obligations under REACH.”  Olivier de Matos, Secretary General of the European Center for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology (ECETOC), describes the web-based app that was designed to help registrants follow the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) guidance on sets of nanoforms.  According to de Matos, the app primarily covers the “Appendix for...

On April 7, 2020, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Carbon Nanotubes — First nanomaterial of high concern on the SIN List.”  As reported in our November 27, 2019, blog item, ChemSec added carbon nanotubes to the Substitute It Now (SIN) List in November 2019.  According to Dr. Anna Lennquist, Senior Toxicologist, International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), ever since ChemSec created the SIN List, there have been...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) posted an article on April 6, 2020, announcing the availability of a study that found a lack of data on female fertility.  The study, A critical review of studies on the reproductive and developmental toxicity of nanomaterials, was commissioned by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and carried out by DHI A/S and the Danish National Research Center for the Working Environment.  The scope of this project was to...

On March 3, 2020, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “‘Nanoplastics’ — it’s a name game.”  Claire Skentelbery, Director General, Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA), reviews the difference between engineered (manufactured) nanomaterials and naturally originating (incidental) nanomaterials.  Skentelbery notes that use of the term “nanoplastics,” without describing their origins, “risks the perception...

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...

On November 25, 2019, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced the publication of a study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology entitled “Unpredictable Nanoparticle Retention in Commonly Used Plastic Syringes Introduces Dosage Uncertainties That May Compromise the Accuracy of Nanomedicine and Nanotoxicology Studies.”  The researchers in the study radiolabeled a variety of different nanoparticles, loaded suspensions of particles into different plastic...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on December 3, 2019, that it has developed a new Appendix for nanoforms applicable to the Guidance on Registration and Substance Identification.  According to ECHA, it aligns ECHA’s guidance with the amended annexes of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation that will apply to nanomaterials and enter into force on January 1, 2020.  The new guidance document explains the term nanoform,...

On November 12, 2019, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Nanomaterials in Europe’s workplaces:  what are the risks and how can they be managed?” and written by Elke Schneider, European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EU-OSHA).  Schneider states that at the EU level, the requirements for managing nanomaterials and their potential risks are the same as those for managing other hazardous substances.  Under the EU’s...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on October 15, 2019, that it seeks topics that could be addressed in upcoming studies.  EUON conducts up to three studies annually that are intended to address knowledge gaps on nanomaterials that are of interest to the general public and the research community.  EUON states that it is looking for studies that address: According to EUON, the scope of the study can be on nanomaterials in general, a...

On October 7, 2019, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion by Lise Bitsch, Governing Nanotechnologies through Societal Engagement (GoNano), entitled “Strengthening societal engagement with nanotechnologies.”  Bitsch presents several arguments for why actors in the research and innovation world of nanotechnologies and other key enabling technologies should care about societal engagement.  Bitsch also explains what societal engagement is...