ISO Publishes Technical Report on Physical Characterization of Engineered Nanomaterials

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a Technical Report (TR) providing guidance on the physicochemical characterization of manufactured nano-objects prior to toxicological assessment.  ISO states that TR 13014:2012, Nanotechnologies — Guidance on physicochemical characterization of engineered nanoscale materials for toxicologic assessment, “is intended to assist health scientists and experts to understand, plan, identify, and address relevant physicochemical characteristics of nano-objects before conducting toxicological tests on them.” ISO Technical Committee (TC) 229 Working Group (WG) 3, Health, Safety, and Environmental Aspects of Nanotechnologies, prepared the TR. The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 229, which is accredited and administered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is open to all materially affected U.S. national interested parties. The U.S. TAG formulates positions and proposals on behalf of the U.S. with response to ISO standardization activities, and provides the delegates and experts who represent the U.S. at meetings of the respective ISO TCs, subcommittees, and WGs.