Nano and Other Emerging Chemical Technologies Law Blog: Lawyer & Attorney : Bergeson & Campbell Law Firm : Nanotech and Chemical Legal Developments

On September 23, 2009, EHP-in-Press posted an article entitled “Potential for Occupational Exposure to Engineered Carbon-Based Nanomaterials in Environmental Laboratory Studies,” which states that laboratory workers may be at increased risk of exposure to engineered nanomaterials. The goal of the study was to assess the release of carbonaceous nanomaterials into the laboratory atmosphere during handling and sonication into environmentally-relevant matrices. The authors concluded that engineered nanomaterials can become airborne when mixed in solution by sonication, especially when nanomaterials are functionalized or in water containing natural organic matter. EHP-in-Press articles have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in Environmental Health Perspectives.

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On September 23, 2009, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Technologies (PEN) hosted a meeting on “Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies.” The program is part of a collaborative research project involving experts from the London School of Economics (LSE), Chatham House, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and PEN. The project is funded by a grant from the European Commission to support pilot projects on “Transatlantic methods for handling global challenges.” The purpose of yesterday’s meeting was to discuss recommendations from the research effort that are part of a report released on September 10, 2009. The meeting was also intended to generate and examine new ideas to enable greater transatlantic convergence on nanotechnology oversight today and in the future.

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 The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced it will host the DTSC/California Nano-Industry Network Symposium, to be held November 16, 2009, in Sacramento, California. The Symposium, which is co-sponsored by the American Chemistry Council and Dupont, will use the DTSC’s nanotechnology data call-in as a backdrop. According to the preliminary agenda, the Symposium will feature two sessions. The first, entitled “Collaborative Efforts,” will discuss the key U.S. and international forums for collaboration on the health, safety, and environmental impacts of nanomaterials. The second session, “Company Engagement with Nanotechnology Safety,” will review examples of how companies can apply the evolving knowledge on nanomaterials safety to address systematically various areas of concern.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a September 16, 2009, Federal Register notice that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) will meet November 3-6, 2009, “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.” Nominations of candidates to serve as ad hoc SAP members for this meeting are due September 30, 2009. The meeting will be open to the public. EPA asks that written comments be submitted by October 20, 2009, to allow for distribution to the SAP, and that requests for oral comments be made by October 27, 2009.  EPA also states that written comments and requests to make oral comments may be submitted until the date of the meeting, however.

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The London School of Economics (LSE), Chatham House, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars held a conference on September 10-11, 2009, on “Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies,” in London. LSE, Chatham House, ELI, and PEN are participating in an international collaborative project, Regulating Nanotechnologies in the EU and U.S., which is funded by a grant from the European Commission. Their research findings on issues of transatlantic regulatory cooperation were published in a report during the conference. The conference was intended to bring together regulatory experts from the United States (U.S.) and European Union (EU) to discuss recommendations from this research effort and to generate and examine new ideas that would enable greater transatlantic cooperation and convergence on nanotechnology oversight today and in the future. The materials released at the conference include a briefing paper entitled Regulating Nanomaterials:  A Transatlantic Agenda, and the report entitled Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies:  Towards Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the Interagency Nanotechnology Implications Grantees Workshop, which will feature presentations on recent research by EPA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and Department of Energy (DOE) grant researchers.  According to EPA, the November 9-10, 2009, meeting “will encourage collaboration and cooperation among nanotechnology grantees sponsored by EPA, NSF, NIEHS, NIOSH and DOE and between other federal grantees and federal nanotechnology researchers.” The meeting is open to members of academia, government, nongovernmental organizations, industry, and the general public. Two agendas are available: (1) other nanomaterials; and (2) metals and carbon-based nanomaterials.

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