The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Nanotechnology Research Center’s (NTRC) Field Studies Team (the Team) evaluates advanced materials and processes in workplaces ranging from large manufacturers, research and development labs, and government facilities, to schools, libraries, and other non-industrial settings. An April 1, 2024, NIOSH Science Blog item entitled “Celebrating 20 Years of Research: Highlights From NIOSH’s Nanotechnology Research Center’s Field...
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In a March 4, 2024, blog item entitled “Sweating the Small Stuff: 20 years of NIOSH Research on Engineering Controls for Nanotechnology,” the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) highlighted the control approaches that it has recommended, “based on extensive research on the pharmaceutical, coatings, and cosmetic industries”: NIOSH states that following the publication of Current Strategies for Engineering Controls in Nanomaterial Production and Downstream...
February 9, 2024
NIOSH Collaborates Globally on Workplace Safety of Nanomaterials
On February 1, 2024, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted a NIOSH Science Blog item entitled “NIOSH Global Collaborations on Workplace Safety of Nanomaterials.” According to the blog item, NIOSH’s global collaboration efforts “build on the strong NIOSH [Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC)] research and guidance efforts contributing to the global technical information and guidance about protecting workers and aim to facilitate international...
On January 3, 2024, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) posted a NIOSH Science Blog item entitled “Looking to the Past and the Future of NIOSH Nanotechnology Guidance.” As the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC) celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is looking back over two decades of published guidance to help reduce worker exposures to engineered nanomaterials and discussing the needs for future research efforts. The NTRC Strategic Plan NIOSH published...
November 15, 2023
NIOSH Report on Approaches to 3D Printing Includes Recommendations for Controls to Protect Users in Makerspaces, Schools, Libraries, and Small Businesses
On November 8, 2023, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a report entitled Approaches to safe 3D printing: a guide for makerspace users, schools, libraries, and small businesses. According to NIOSH, use of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is becoming a prominent part of the modern world. NIOSH notes that some 3D printer users have expressed concerns about potential exposures to ultrafine particles, chemicals, and safety hazards, however. NIOSH...
The March 2023 issue of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) eNews includes an item announcing publication of an article entitled “Results of the 2019 Survey of Engineered Nanomaterial Occupational Health and Safety Practices” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. According to the abstract, the survey aimed to understand whether workers follow the recommendations of NIOSH’s Nanotechnology Research...
On December 20, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Controlling Exposure to Nanomaterials” by Dr Araceli Sánchez, Spanish Institute of Health and Safety (INSST). Sánchez notes that over the last 15 years, scientists have paid attention to the development of new instruments capable of measuring personal exposure to nanosize particles, and new frameworks, methodologies, and standards to assess and control exposure to engineered...
August 1, 2022
NIOSH Publishes Technical Report on Occupational Exposure Sampling for Engineered Nanomaterials
On July 29, 2022, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Technical Report: Occupational Exposure Sampling for Engineered Nanomaterials. Since 2010, NIOSH has developed guidance for workplace sampling for three engineered nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF), silver, and titanium dioxide, each of which has an elemental mass-based NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL). NIOSH has also developed a practical approach to...
July 5, 2022
EUON Publishes Nanopinion on Models to Characterize Exposures to Manufactured Nanomaterials in the OECD
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 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on developments concerning the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It includes the following information on developments in the United States....