By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe 12th International Nano-Authorities Dialogue was held in Germany on June 7-8, 2018. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), environmental, health, and occupational safety authorities, as well as industry, science, and civil society organizations from Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, discussed current topics in the area… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesIn July 2018, the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences published an English version of Dossier No. 49, “Nanotechnological Applications for Food Contact Materials.” The Dossier concludes that nanomaterials can significantly improve the properties of plastic materials, making nanocomposites “increasingly interesting for manufacturers, especially for food packaging.” Nanomaterials used in food… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,United StatesAccording to the Summer 2018 edition of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office’s (NNCO) quarterly newsletter, in 2018, NNCO will focus on two of its primary responsibilities — providing public outreach and promoting commercialization of nanotechnology. NNCO states that its activities “will build upon and expand efforts to tell the stories” from the National Nanotechnology Initiative… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe July 2018 issue of the EFSA Journal includes an article entitled “Evaluation of four new studies on the potential toxicity of titanium dioxide used as a food additive (E 171).” The European Commission (EC) asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to carry out a scientific evaluation on four studies on the potential toxicity… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,United StatesOn July 30, 2018, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) announced the reappointment of Dr. Lisa Friedersdorf as its Director and the appointment of Dr. Stacey Standridge as its Deputy Director. NNCO is a federal interagency coordinating office that serves as a central point of contact for the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and supports the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesAs reported in our January 31, 2018, blog item, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances (TLV®-CS) Committee included carbon nanotubes on its 2018 list of chemical substances and other issues under study. Being placed on the under study list indicated that the TLV®-CS Committee had selected carbon… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe tenth Helsinki Chemicals Forum was held on June 14-15, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. According to the Conference Report, prepared by Chemical Watch, 168 delegates from 37 countries attended. The final debate at the Forum used nanomaterials as a case study to argue whether product stewardship can replace regulation. Roger Drew, ToxConsult, moderated the debate… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe July 19, 2018, issue of the European Commission’s (EC) Health-EU Newsletter includes an editorial entitled “The only concern to have about sunscreen is … did you remember to put it on?” written by Qasim Chaudhry, Chair of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) and Ulrike Bernauer, Chair of the SCCS Working Group on… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,OECDThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a July 4, 2018, report entitled Investigating the Different Types of Risk Assessments of Manufactured Nanomaterials: Identifying Tools Available for Risk Management Measures and Uncertainties Driving Nano-Specific Data Needs. The report presents the findings from a survey conducted in 2016 that aimed at investigating the different… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,OECD,ResearchThe NanoSafety Cluster announced that its projects NanoReg2 and Gracious, which focus on grouping, have come together with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Party for Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) to host a two-day conference in Paris on September 12-13, 2018. The “Scientific workshop on Grouping of Nanomaterials” will immediately follow the September… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a July 4, 2018, press release announcing the availability of new guidance on how to assess the safety of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications. The guidance covers novel foods, food contact materials, food and feed additives, and pesticides, taking into account new developments that have taken place since publication… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchNanoMONITOR announced on June 25, 2018, that the NanoMONITOR Monitoring Station is available upon request to use in facilities to obtain robust data on the concentration of engineered nanomaterials. NanoMONITOR’s brochure states that access is provided on a transnational basis with no charge to the user. According to NanoMONITOR, by developing a real-time information and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn June 25, 2018, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on styrene/acrylates copolymer (nano) and sodium styrene/acrylates copolymer (nano). The EC received eight notifications of cosmetic ingredients containing the copolymers in nano forms. According to the applicants, the ingredients are used in nano-coated form in leave-on cosmetic… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,United StatesThe “2nd Quantifying Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials from Manufactured Products (QEEN II) Workshop” will be held October 9-10, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and co-hosted by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the Workshop will highlight new research on the tools and methods available to characterize and quantify effective… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchOn June 11, 2018, the European Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced that its website now features the following two searchable databases, NanoData and eNanoMapper: NanoData: Contains data on different products, research projects, publications, patents, and companies, and helps users to visualize statistics through built-in charts and graphs. The data can also be filtered by different… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Legal/Regulatory Issues,StateAs reported in our June 7, 2018, memorandum, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) on June 6, 2018, released its final policy and form for manufacturer disclosures under the Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program. The Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program requires manufacturers of cleaning products sold in New York to… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,OECD,ResearchThe 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… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn May 23, 2018, the European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published an article entitled “Nordic information campaign on REACH-relevant regulation for nanomaterials.” According to EUON, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark are coordinating an information campaign through the N-Nano project group of the Nordic Chemical Working Group of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The goal… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe May 2018 ECHA Newsletter includes an interview with Robert Johansson, Head of the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s (KEMI) Chemical Statistics and Registries Unit. As reported in our December 7, 2017, blog item, KEMI has established a mandatory reporting scheme to obtain information on the quantities and types of nanomaterials used in Sweden, with the first… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn May 16, 2018, the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) announced the availability of six case studies intended to help stakeholders understand how the categorization process for new industrial chemicals will work under the new Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS). The case studies cover typical scenarios for introducing cosmetic and non-cosmetic… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) has posted the workshop report from the March 9, 2018, Stakeholder Dialogue meeting. According to the report, the annual meeting focused on providing an update on EUON and allowing stakeholders an opportunity to share their views on expectations on the future development of EUON. During his welcome address,… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe Belgian Federal Public Service for Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment has published the first annual report for nano substances registered for placement on the market in 2016. Although the report is available only in French and Dutch at this time, each contains an executive summary in English. Of the 475 registrations submitted,… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Commission (EC) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Committee voted on April 26, 2018, to amend several REACH Annexes to clarify the registration requirements for nanomaterials. According to the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) press release, the amendments address the knowledge gap regarding which substances registered under REACH are placed on the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn April 19, 2018, the European Parliament (EP) approved a regulation on organic production and labeling of organic products. Under the regulation, the production of processed organic food will be based on several specific principles, including the exclusion of food containing or consisting of engineered nanomaterials. The regulation defines engineered nanomaterial as defined in the… Continue Reading
