Nanotechnology Lawyer & Attorney : Bergeson & Campbell Law Firm : Nanotechnology Law Blog

On May 1, 2008, the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), together with 13 other consumer, health, and environmental groups, filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding that EPA regulate as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and that it take additional actions under FIFRA and other environmental statutes concerning, consumer products containing nanoscale silver. ICTA also released an inventory of the nano silver-containing consumer products referenced in the petition.

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On April 24, 2008, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled Nanotechnology: Accuracy of Data on Federally Funded Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Could Be Improved, which contains the testimony of Robert A. Robinson, Managing Director, Natural Resources and Environment, before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation. Robinson provided a summary of GAO’s findings as reported in its March 31, 2008, report entitled Nanotechnology: Better Guidance Is Needed to Ensure Accurate Reporting of Federal Research Focused on Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks. GAO was asked to focus on: (1) the extent to which selected agencies conducted environmental, health, and safety (EHS) research in fiscal year (FY) 2006; (2) the reasonableness of the agencies’ and the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s (NNI) processes to identify and prioritize EHS research; and (3) the effectiveness of the agencies’ and the NNI’s process to coordinate EHS research.

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On April 24, 2008, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing entitled “National Nanotechnology Initiative: Charting the Course for Reauthorization.” The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) currently receives approximately $1.5 billion. The hearing will examine the five-year period since the NNI was initially authorized in 2003 and explore issues the Committee should consider for the next reauthorization.  

Witnesses scheduled to speak at the hearing include:

• Panel 1

• The Honorable Richard M. Russell
  Associate Director and Deputy Director for Technology
  Executive Office of the President 
• Mr. Robert A. Robinson
  Managing Director, Natural Resources and Environment Team
  U.S. Government Accountability Office

• Panel 2

• Mr. Matthew M. Nordan
  President
  Lux Research Incorporated 
• Mr. David Rejeski
  Director, Foresight and Governance Project and Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
  Woodrow Wilson Center  
• Dr. P. Lee Ferguson
  Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  University of South Carolina 
• Dr. Anita Goel
  Nanobiosym Incorporated
• Dr. Jim Heath
  Director
  NSB Cancer Center

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On April 18, 2008, The American Chemical Society Science & the Congress Project, The Society of Toxicology, and The Society for Risk Analysis sponsored a Congressional briefing entitled “Nanotechnology 102: Understanding Congress’ Role.” Panelists included Kristen Kulinowski, Director of the International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON); J. Clarence (Terry) Davies, Senior Advisor, Woodrow Wilson Center Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN); James Cooper, Vice President of Petrochemicals, National Petrochemical and Refiners Association; and Charles Auer, Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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On March 11, 2008, the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) released a report entitled Responsible Production and Use of Nanomaterials, which is a series of documents intended to provide guidance on all aspects of a good product stewardship on nanomaterials. The documents include joint papers prepared by VCI and the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) and the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA). The report includes the following documents:

Principles Document:

• Implementing Responsible Care® for a Responsible Production and Use of Nanomaterials

Regulatory Documents:

• Requirements of the REACH Regulation on Substances Which Are Manufactured or Imported also as Nanomaterials
• Guidance for a Tiered Gathering of Hazard Information for the Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials
• Guidance for Handling and Use of Nanomaterials at the Workplace
• Guidance for the Passing on of Information along the Supply Chain in the Handling of Nanomaterials via Safety Data Sheets
• Strategy Paper of the German Chemical Industry on the Standardization of Nanomaterials

Documents on Safety Research:

• Roadmap for Safety Research on Nanomaterials
• Environmental Aspects of Nanoparticles

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On April 9, 2008, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) released a report entitled Room at the Bottom? Potential State and Local Strategies for Managing the Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology. According to the report, because of the slow pace of federal action to regulate development of nanotechnology, “there is ‘room at the bottom’ for state and local governments to move forward in pursuing regulatory and other oversight options.” Research for the report identified a number of states with laws promoting the nanotechnology industry or other initiatives encouraging research and development on nanotechnology applications. The report states that each of the 50 states is “home to at least one company, university, government laboratory, or other type of organization working with nanomaterials.”

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The April 1, 2008, issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) includes correspondence regarding a 2007 EHP article concerning the aggregation and toxicology of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, as well as the authors’ response. The issue also includes an article entitled “Ecological Uptake and Depuration of Carbon Nanotubes by Lumbriculus variegatus.” The authors synthesized radioactively labeled nanotubes using a novel methane chemical vapor deposition procedure. According to the authors, the results suggest that purified carbon nanotubes do not readily absorb into organism tissues.

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On March 26, 2008, EHP-in-Press posted an article entitled “Recirculating Air Filtration Significantly Reduces Exposure to Airborne Nanoparticles.” The authors investigated the effectiveness of recirculating air filtration to reduce exposure to incidental and intentionally produced airborne nanoparticles while driving in traffic, and while generating nanomaterials using gas-phase synthesis. The authors state that “use of inexpensive low-efficiency filters in recirculation systems is shown to reduce nanoparticle concentrations to below levels found in a typical office within three minutes while driving through heavy traffic, and within twenty minutes in a simulated nanomaterial production facility.”

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On April 2, 2008, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) released a report entitled Regulating Emerging Technologies in Silicon Valley and Beyond: Lessons Learned from 1981 Chemical Spills in the Electronics Industry and Implications for Regulating Nanotechnology.  According to SVTC, the emergence of nanotechnology is similar to the electronics industry in the early 1980s, when new manufacturing processes ultimately resulted in groundwater pollution throughout Santa Clara County. The report provides a case study of the regulatory landscape in Santa Clara County and traces the “clear and alarming parallels” to current regulations for nanotechnology. SVTC outlines recommendations for policy reform, based on closing existing gaps in data, technology, and safety. The report includes a set of sample questions that SVTC intends for communities to use to gather information about the use and safety of nanomaterials and processes in nearby facilities.

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