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The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has posted an opinion on zinc oxide, nano-form. SCCS approved the opinion for adoption and it is now open for comment by applicants, national authorities, and other interested parties. SCCS considered whether zinc oxide in its nano-form is safe for use as a UV-filter with a concentration up to 25 percent in cosmetic products. SCCS concluded, on the basis of available evidence, that the use of zinc oxide...

Under a draft amendment to the Danish Chemicals Act, the Minister of the Environment would have the authority to write a detailed order establishing the rules for a national database of mixtures and articles containing or releasing nanomaterials. The order would also require producers and importers to report products containing or releasing nanomaterials. The information in the database is intended to form the basis of an evaluation of whether the content of nanomaterials in products on the...

On September 11, 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted a brochure entitled “Six Years of OECD Work on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials: Achievements and Future Opportunities.” The brochure notes that “[a]fter six years of work, the OECD and its member countries have come to the conclusion that the approaches for the testing and assessment of traditional chemicals are in general appropriate for assessing the safety of nanomaterials,...

On September 5, 2012, the National Research Council (NRC) released a pre-publication version of a report entitled Science for Environmental Protection:  The Road Ahead. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked NRC to assess EPA’s overall capabilities “to develop, obtain, and use the best available scientific and technologic information and tools to meet persistent, emerging, and future mission challenges and opportunities.” The report discusses nanotechnology as an example...

On August 31, 2012, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) issued a call for experts on the safety assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetic products. Under Article 16 of the Cosmetic Regulation EC No 1223/2009, any cosmetic product containing nanomaterials must be notified to the EC six months prior to being placed on the market. In case of concern, the EC will request SCCS to provide an opinion. According to the EC website, to...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 229 on nanotechnologies is preparing guidance on the format and content of voluntary labeling for manufactured nano-objects (MNO) and products, preparations, and mixtures containing MNOs. According to ISO, the guidance, ISO/TS 13830:2011, would also address the use of the term “nano” in product labeling. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) was initially developing the guidance and,...

Lynn L. Bergeson will chair a session of the first Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) conference, which will be held November 4-6, 2012, in Arlington, Virginia. The conference will address the critical aspects of sustainable nanotechnology, including lifecycle assessment, green synthesis, green energy, food and agriculture, nanomedicine, industrial nanotechnology, environmental and biological fate, and the overall sustainability of engineered...

The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development published an order in the August 10, 2012, Journal Officiel de la République Française concerning the content and submission requirements for the annual declarations of information relating to nanoparticle substances, as substances or as part of a mixture. The order comes into force on January 1, 2013, and provides details on how companies should meet the mandatory declaration obligations....

On June 20, 2012, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) posted a new literature review entitled Risk perception and risk communication with regard to nanomaterials in the workplace, which found “serious gaps in our awareness of the potential risks involved in handling nanomaterials at work, and serious shortcomings in the way that those risks are communicated to workplaces.” The review intends to: EU-OSHA states that risk communication strategies need to help...

On August 8, 2012, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) posted a request it received from the EC for a scientific opinion on the safety of medical devices containing nanomaterials. According to the request, Notified Bodies have identified the following cases of alleged use of nanomaterials: The EC states that, in addition, there are reports of iron-oxide nanoparticles injected into tumor cells to be heated-up by...