In December 2021, the German Environment Agency (UBA) published a document entitled Risk Governance of Advanced Materials: Considerations from the joint perspective of the German Higher Federal Authorities BAuA, BfR and UBA. The document summarizes the current activities, considerations, and recommendations of UBA, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) aiming to establish good governance of advanced...
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December 14, 2021
Germany Publishes Report on Developing a Specific OECD Test Guideline on Particle Size and Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials
In December 2021, the German Environment Agency (UBA) published a report entitled Development of a specific OECD Test Guideline on Particle Size and Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials. The UBA commissioned the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) (project coordinator) and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) to develop an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guideline for the determination of particle...
In July 2020, the German Environment Agency (UBA) published a report entitled Advanced materials: Overview of the field and screening criteria for relevance assessment. The report describes activities within the project “Advanced materials — Thematic conferences: Assessment of needs to act on chemical safety” to provide discussion input on approaches to describe, cluster, and prioritize advanced materials. The aim of the report is to identify relevant advanced...
November 14, 2019
German Environmental Agency Will Hold Conference on Advanced Materials
The German Environment Agency (UBA) will hold a conference on December 5-6, 2019, on “Advanced Materials — 1st Thematic Conference.” UBA uses the term “advanced materials” to refer to a heterogeneous group of new or modified materials with improved properties for intended applications. According to UBA, for a certain number of these new materials, their potential risk may not be driven by their chemical identity alone but may also be determined by their physical and morphological...
May 31, 2019
OECD Tour de Table Provides Updates on Developments on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials
As reported in our May 30, 2019, blog item, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published several reports in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, including Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on the occasion of the 19th meeting of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) in February...
October 11, 2018
Germany Publishes Study on Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles
The German Environment Agency (UBA) in October 2018 published a study entitled Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles: Systematic literature search and the potential transferability of the results to the German setting. The study notes that ultrafine particles represent the smallest size fractions of particles with sizes from one to about 100 nanometers in aerodynamic diameter. Their specific health effects are thus related to their physical capacity to reach diverse organ...
August 7, 2018
German Environment Agency Publishes Fact Sheet on Use of Nanomaterials in Plastic Packaging
The German Environment Agency (UBA) has published an August 2018 fact sheet, in German, regarding the use of nanomaterials in plastic packaging. The fact sheet addresses nanomaterials that promise new, technical, or improved packaging properties. According to UBA, the nanomaterials used for labeling and surface coating of packaging are partly the same as those used in (printing) paints and varnishes. Because most of the potential use of nanomaterials in packaging lies in...
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a May 17, 2018, document entitled Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The document compiles information provided by delegations for the February 2018 OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) meeting on current developments on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It aims to summarize relevant information on activities related to...
On April 23-24, 2018, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) held a NanoDialog to discuss “Nano-In-Vivo,” a long-term research project intended to close existing data gaps concerning the safety of nanomaterials. BMU, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), and BASF SE, with the participation of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM)...
January 9, 2018
Germany Publishes Report on Scientific Stakeholder Meeting on Nanomaterials in the Environment
The German Environment Agency (UBA) has published a report summarizing the contents and outcomes of the October 2017 scientific stakeholder meeting on nanomaterials in the environment. The meeting focused on the relevant regulatory results of recent German and European research projects on nanomaterials in the environment. The stakeholder meeting provided a forum for participants to present the state of the knowledge on environmental nanosafety in a regulatory context, as well as to...