All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On October 5, 2024, the Minister of the Environment announced in the Canada Gazette publication of a proposed plan of priorities for the assessment of chemical substances. Under the 2023 amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Health are required to “develop, consult on and publish a plan with timelines” by June 2025. The proposed list of prioritized substances for assessment and the rationales...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) continues to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC). NIOSH highlights NTRC activities in the risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials in a June 3, 2024, NIOSH Science blog item entitled “NIOSH Risk Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials.” The item notes that NTRC risk assessments were used in developing NIOSH recommended exposure limits (REL) for three different classes of nanomaterials...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service announced on April 9, 2024, that ARS researchers published a study revealing the ability of cotton gin waste to synthesize and generate silver nanoparticles in the presence of silver ions. ARS states that cotton gin waste, also known as cotton gin trash, “is a byproduct of the cotton ginning process and occurs when the cotton fibers are separated from the seed boll.” Using a simple heat...

On March 15, 2024, the European Commission (EC) published in the Official Journal of the European Union an amendment to the Cosmetics Regulation. The following nanomaterials have been added to Annex II (substances prohibited in cosmetic products). From February 1, 2025, cosmetic products containing these substances shall not be placed on the European Union (EU) market. From November 1, 2025, cosmetic products containing these substances shall not be made available on the EU market: The...

On August 14, 2023, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) called for the submission of any scientific information relevant to the safety assessment of nanomaterials used in cosmetics. Article 16 of the UK Cosmetics Regulation requires that cosmetic products containing nanomaterials be notified to the Secretary of State at least six months prior to being placed on the market. These notifications may be completed via the Submit Cosmetic Product Notification...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 11, 2023, that its Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently developed sustainable, machine-washable antimicrobial wipes that can be used at least 30 times for cleaning hard and nonporous surfaces. According to USDA, ARS researchers developed the antimicrobial wipes “by using raw cotton fiber that naturally produced silver nanoparticles inside the fiber in the presence of a silver precursor.” USDA states that the...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 11, 2023, that its Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently developed sustainable, machine-washable antimicrobial wipes that can be used at least 30 times for cleaning hard and nonporous surfaces. According to USDA, ARS researchers developed the antimicrobial wipes “by using raw cotton fiber that naturally produced silver nanoparticles inside the fiber in the presence of a silver precursor.” USDA states that the...

On February 1, 2023, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of metal nanoparticles in aquatic environments. According to NNI, the focus will be on copper and copper oxide, nickel, and silver nanoparticles. Each expert panelist will provide an overview on the current state of knowledge for a particular metal nanoparticle. The panelists will discuss methods used for identifying, measuring, and assessing the...

.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published for comment a draft study report entitled “Applicability of the key event based TG 442D for in vitro skin sensitisation testing of nanomaterials.” Switzerland conducted experimental work with selected nanomaterials using OECD Test Guideline (TG) 442D (KeratinoSensTM) and made a basic in vitro to in vivo correlation to outline the potential relevance of the results for prediction of skin sensitisation of...

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 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...

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....

On September 7, 2021, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) posted a preliminary opinion on “Draft Environmental Quality Standards for Priority Substances under the Water Framework Directive” for silver and its compounds. The Water Framework Directive requires the EC to identify priority substances among those presenting significant risk to or via the aquatic environment and to set environmental quality standards (EQS) for...

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a Scientific Opinion entitled “Safety assessment of the substance silver nanoparticles for use in food contact materials.” The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the additive silver nanoparticles intended to be used in plastics. All the silver particles were in the size range of 1-100 nanometers (nm), with about 15 nm mean diameter and 99% by number of particles...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published Current Intelligence Bulletin 70: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials. According to the Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB), NIOSH assessed potential health risk from exposure to silver nanomaterials by evaluating more than 100 studies of silver nanomaterials in animals or cells. The CIB states that recent studies in animals have demonstrated that biologic activity and potential...

On January 11, 2021, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) posted a final opinion entitled Scientific Advice on the Safety of Nanomaterials in Cosmetics.  The EC requested that SCCS determine the nanomaterials, as published in the 2019 catalogue of nanomaterials, for which specific concerns can be identified and justified to establish a priority list of nanomaterials for risk assessment (Article 16(4) Reg. 1223/2009).  The final opinion...

On April 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) published Environmental Health Criteria 244:  Principles and methods to assess the risk of immunotoxicity associated with exposure to nanomaterials.  WHO states that the document presents an overview of the current knowledge and evidence on principles and basic mechanisms of immunotoxicity caused by engineered nanomaterials (ENM).  The document provides guidance on principles and methods for hazard and risk assessment of...

In May 2019, the Nordic Council of Ministers published a working paper entitled The applicability of the GHS classification criteria to nanomaterials.  The goal of the project was to review the applicability of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) to manufactured nanomaterials, taking into account the progress of international scientific work.  The report notes that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on December 19, 2018, that it published several new substance evaluation conclusion documents, including one for silver.  Silver was added to the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) list in 2014 and evaluated by the Netherlands.  According to the substance evaluation conclusion and evaluation report, silver was originally selected for substance evaluation to clarify concerns about nanoparticles/ecotoxicity of different forms of the...

On October 26, 2018, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on colloidal silver (nano).  According to the final opinion, the EC received 63 notifications of cosmetic products containing colloidal silver in nano form.  The final opinion states that, according to the applicants, the ingredient is used in nano uncoated form both in leave-on and rinse-off oral cosmetics products, including toothpastes and skin care products, with a...

On September 18, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of a draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  As reported in our January 22, 2016, blog item, NIOSH published a draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) on silver nanomaterials on January 21, 2016.  According to the...

The Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) recently prepared a statement concerning nanosilver and its long history of safe and regulated use. SNWG notes the similarities between nanosilver and other antimicrobial silver materials available in the marketplace.  SNWG states that it “has interacted with the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] in challenged exchanges on how best to regulate nanopesticides leading to a clear, reasonable, and responsible path for...

The Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) prepared a May 2, 2011, statement regarding the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment’s (BfR) April 12, 2011, statement concerning consumer products containing nanosilver. SNWG notes that, in December 2009, BfR published an opinion advising against the use of nanosilver in consumer products. Industry and other groups, including SNWG, asked BfR to reconsider its position, and BfR held a workshop on February 17,...

Environmental Science & Technology posted on April 5, 2011, an article entitled “Behavior of Metallic Silver Nanoparticles in a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Plant.” The abstract states: We investigated the behavior of metallic silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) in a pilot wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) fed with municipal wastewater.  The treatment plant consisted of a nonaerated and an aerated tank and a secondary clarifier.  The average hydraulic retention time including...

In a May 25, 2010, letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), the Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) expressed its concern regarding the pending Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) interpretation concerning the regulation of nanoscale pesticide products. In its letter, SNWG states that the new interpretation, which “includes an unsupported and arbitrary definition of ‘nanomaterial’ and ignores...

In a February 5, 2010, letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs, the Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) provides its reactions to the recent Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) report on nanosilver and other nanometal oxide pesticide products. In its letter, SNWG highlights a number of the statements and recommendations from the SAP report that it considers “highly relevant for the shaping of EPA policy towards nanosilver...

The Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) issued a press release regarding its presentation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) at its November 3-6, 2009, meeting. EPA asked the SAP “to consider and review a set of scientific issues related to the assessment of hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products.” According to EPA, companies with an interest in marketing products that contain...

Two researchers at the University of Missouri — Columbia’s College of Engineering have received an $84,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the potential effects of silver nanoparticles on wastewater treatment systems. According to a university press release, Baolin Deng, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Zhiqiang Hu, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, “will determine how silver...

An undergraduate fashion design student, a fiber science professor, and a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University in New York have teamed up to design what may very well be the world’s first garment “that can prevent colds and flu.” According to a May 1, 2007, news release, the three collaborators produced a dress from cotton fabrics that had been coated with silver nanoparticles. Silver, of course, is a well-known antimicrobial. Cotton fibers were positively...