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 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 International,ResearchOn 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,… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesThe National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold the first in its series of free webinars for the nanotechnology entrepreneurship community on May 21, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT). NNCO states that the webinar will feature stories from entrepreneurs that have transitioned their university-based nanotechnology research through commercialization. Participants will share lessons learned, technological challenges… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesOn May 2, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice announcing publication of its Final 2016 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan. The Plan describes EPA’s Clean Water Act rulemakings and other actions intended to control industrial wastewater pollution. According to the Plan, EPA continued several ongoing investigations, including one on the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchAs reported in our February 16, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) has opened a call to access its Nanobiotechnology Laboratory. The Nanobiotechnology Laboratory features state-of-the-art equipped facilities designed to foster interdisciplinary studies. Offering access to the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory is part of JRC’s strategy to enhance dissemination of scientific knowledge;… 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 International,ResearchIn April 2018, the International Standardization Organization (ISO) published standard ISO 19007:2018, “Nanotechnologies — In vitro MTS assay for measuring the cytotoxic effect of nanoparticles.” The standard specifies a method for evaluating the effects of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates on cellular viability using the MTS assay. The assay design includes performance requirements and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published a March 23, 2018, report entitled Evaluation of in vitro methods for human hazard assessment applied in the OECD Testing Programme for the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials. The Testing Program for the Testing of Manufactured Nanomaterials tested 11 manufactured nanomaterials to generate information, including their… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesThe U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a Federal Register notice on March 1, 2018, announcing that it will hold a public hearing on April 11, 2018, to receive comments about CPSC’s agenda and priorities for fiscal years (FY) 2019-2020. CPSC’s Fiscal Year 2019 Performance Budget Request to Congress states that CPSC “will continue… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchOn February 26, 2018, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) issued a call for study topics on nanomaterials. EUON states that it intends to conduct up to three studies annually to address knowledge gaps about nanomaterials on the EU market. The studies should be considered of interest for either a specific audience, such… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget proposal on February 12, 2018. According to EPA’s press release, the proposed budget will provide $6.146 billion to support EPA’s new FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan and mission of protecting human health and the environment. EPA states that the “Back-to-Basic” agenda set out… 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 International,ResearchThe European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) has opened a call to access its Nanobiotechnology Laboratory. The Nanobiotechnology Laboratory features state-of-the-art equipped facilities designed to foster interdisciplinary studies, with a special emphasis on the characterization of nanomaterials, nanomedicines, advanced materials and their interactions with biological systems, as well as on the detection, identification, and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe 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… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchIn November 2017, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard ISO/TS 20787:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Aquatic toxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in saltwater lakes using Artemia sp. Nauplii.” ISO/TS 20787:2017 specifies a test method, aiming to maximize repeatability and reliability of testing, to determine whether manufactured nanomaterials are toxic to aquatic organisms, specifically Artemia sp.… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,OECD,ResearchIn December 2017, Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) published a report entitled Clarification of methodical questions regarding the investigation of nanomaterials in the environment: Development of a decision support tool for the investigation of nanomaterial’s environmental behaviour based on dispersion behaviour and dissolution in relation to various environmental parameters. UBA states that for an adequate… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesOn November 30, 2017, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published a supplement to the President’s 2018 budget. The supplement also serves as NNI’s annual report and summarizes the progress made in achieving NNI’s goals, the research and development (R&D) activities and plans of the participating agencies, and the agency investments in each program component area. … Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchGermany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) published a November 2017 report entitled Considerations about the relationship of nanomaterial’s physical-chemical properties and aquatic toxicity for the purpose of grouping. The report notes that, based on the variety of existing nanomaterials with numerous modifications, “the effort of investigating environmental fate and effects will be tremendous.” As a result,… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchIn October 2017, the presentations and report for the June 20, 2017, Second European Conference on “Standardization for Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials: Reliable data for an effective management of nanomaterials” were posted. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN)/Technical Committee (TC) 352 “Nanotechnologies,” together with the CEN-European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) Management Center, the European Commission… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesNanotechnology The National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) grantees conference on progress in nanotechnology will be held December 12-13, 2017. The conference will highlight the research and education activities of ongoing NSE grant projects. It will include a combination of keynotes, panels, posters, program information sessions, discussions of research trends, and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will have six sessions at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe, which will be held May 13-17, 2018, in Rome, Italy. ECHA’s sessions will include one on recent developments in regulatory science and environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials. To support the session, ECHA welcomes abstracts on experience… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,OECD,ResearchThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a November 7, 2017, report entitled Consumer and Environmental Exposure to Manufactured Nanomaterials — Information used to characterize exposures: Analysis of a Survey. The report provides a “light analysis” of the results of a Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) survey on consumer and environmental exposures to… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in EU Member State,International,ResearchOn October 12, 2017, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) published questions and answers (Q&A) regarding a study on whether nanometric pigments from tattoo inks can permanently accumulate in lymph nodes. BfR states that by using X-rays from a particle accelerator in Grenoble, it discovered where the pigments accumulate in the tissue. According… Continue Reading
