By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety IssuesIn August 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) issued a national guide on classifying hazardous chemicals. SWA intends the guidance for manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures, and articles who have a duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations to classify them. SWA suggests that the guidance may also be useful for… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety IssuesOn October 3, 2018, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) published an info sheet on “Manufactured nanomaterials in the workplace.” According to the info sheet, “[t]he requirements for managing nanomaterials in the workplace are the same as those for managing other hazardous chemicals, including the provision of information and training for… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,ResearchThe 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. … Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish on October 3, 2018, a direct final rule promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) for 26 chemical substances, including carbon nanomaterial (generic), that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN). The chemical substances are subject to orders issued by EPA pursuant to Sections 5(e) and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,ResearchGermany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) has published a report entitled Comparison of Inhalation and Intratracheal Instillation as Testing Methods for Characterisation of Granular Biopersistent Particles (GBP). In Project F 2364, researchers conducted an in vivo validation study to evaluate the consistency of data with results obtained in the preceding intratracheal instillation… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesOn September 18, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of a draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials. As reported in our January 22, 2016, blog item, NIOSH published a draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) on… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Occupational Health and Safety IssuesThe Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) recently published a report, in English, entitled An Assessment of Methods of Sampling and Characterizing Engineered Nanomaterials in the Air and on Surfaces in the Workplace. As reported in our March 29, 2017, blog item, IRSST first published the report in French. … Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,Research,United StatesRegistration has opened for an August 20, 2018, webinar on “NanoEHS and Nanomedicine: Similarities and Synergisms.” The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) notes that there are many synergies between nanomedicine research, which addresses (among other topics) issues of efficacy and safety, and studies on the environmental, health, and safety effects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS), which include 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 Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesOn July 26, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the availability of a draft Current Intelligence Bulletin: NIOSH Practices in Occupational Risk Assessment. The draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) describes the underlying science and general approach used by NIOSH researchers when conducting high quality, scientifically sound assessments of the health… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesOn July 9, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a one-page document on its Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC), which conducts research to understand the potential effects on human health of exposure to engineered nanomaterials and develops methods to control or eliminate exposures. NTRC’s accomplishments include: Publishing 101 journal articles in… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,ResearchThe 32nd Triennial Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) was held April 29 through May 4, 2018, in Dublin, Ireland. Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) has published the abstracts for the Congress online, including the following ones concerning nanomaterials: “Update of potential hazards of nanomaterials,” by PA Schulte, I Iavicoli; “Overview —… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,Research,United StatesThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice on April 24, 2018, announcing the availability of a draft research plan entitled Continuing to Protect the Nanotechnology Workforce: NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Plan for 2018-2025 for public comment. The draft Nanotechnology Research Plan presents the Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC) strategic plan… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesEffective April 15, 2018, Chuck Geraci, Ph.D., CIH, will be the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Associate Director for Emerging Technologies. As Associate Director for Emerging Technologies, Dr. Geraci will be responsible for the planning, direction, and execution of emerging technology research activities at NIOSH, advising the NIOSH Director. Emerging technologies with… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesThe May 13-16, 2018, TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo will include a panel discussion on “Safety in Advanced Manufacturing: A Profit Maker or a Profit Taker?” as part of the advanced manufacturing symposium. The panel discussion, which will be held on May 16, 2018, will provide a forum to examine existing health and safety… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesOn March 15, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the availability of the draft National Occupational Research Agenda for Respiratory Health for public comment. The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) is a partnership program created to stimulate innovative research and improved workplace practices. The draft NORA for Respiratory Health is… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesAs reported in our March 13, 2018, blog item, on March 9, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published three documents in its Workplace Design Solutions series that address nanomaterials. On March 12, 2018, NIOSH announced the availability of the new Workplace Design Solutions documents, as well as a poster, “Controlling… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began its Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative in 2007. NIOSH states that its mission is to reduce or prevent occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by considering hazard prevention in the design, re-design, and retrofit of new and existing workplaces, tools, equipment, and work processes. On March… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,Research,United StatesOn February 12, 2018, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) posted its Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Performance Report. According to the Report, in fiscal year (FY) 2017, CPSC exceeded its target of five collaborations by establishing seven research collaborations on the environmental health and safety of nanomaterials. The collaborations “will increase knowledge of the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice on January 31, 2018, announcing the availability of the final National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing. NIOSH states that the National Occupational Research Agenda for Manufacturing “is intended to identify the knowledge and actions most urgently needed to identify occupational risk… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesThe American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®) Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances (TLV®-CS) Committee has included carbon nanotubes on its 2018 list of chemical substances and other issues under study. Being placed on the under study list indicates that the TLV®-CS Committee has selected carbon nanotubes for development of a threshold limit value… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,United StatesCharles Geraci, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, Associate Director for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and Laura Hodson, MSPH, CIH, FAIHA, Coordinator of the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center, co-authored an article entitled “From ‘Just in Time’ to ‘Just Next Door’: 21st-century Manufacturing Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Hygienists.” … Continue Reading
