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
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchIn October 2017, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard ISO/TR 19057:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Use and application of acellular in vitro tests and methodologies to assess nanomaterial biodurability.” The standard reviews the use and application of acellular in vitro tests and methodologies implemented in the assessment of the biodurability of nanomaterials and their ligands… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,OECD,ResearchThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has posted an October 30, 2017, report entitled Strategies, Techniques and Sampling Protocols for Determining the Concentrations of Manufactured Nanomaterials in Air at the Workplace. The objective of the report is to contribute to existing knowledge regarding methods for measuring characteristics of airborne nanoparticles and controlling occupational… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchOn October 24, 2017, the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) held a webinar on Safe by Design for Nanomaterials. The webinar was open to all actors interested in nanomaterials and their safe management throughout their lifecycle, using the principles of Safe by Design from the earliest development stages. The webinar included the following presentations: Session 1: … Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in OECD,ResearchThe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a report entitled Silver Nanoparticles: Summary of the Dossier. The Summary states that Korea led the testing of silver nanoparticles under OECD’s Sponsorship Program for the Testing of Manufactured Nanomaterials. OECD published the dossier on silver nanoparticles in 2016, and the seven-part dossier identifies the U.S.… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in OECD,ResearchOn October 12, 2017, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the release of 17 new, updated, corrected, or deleted Test Guidelines. The Test Guidelines include three specifically developed for nanomaterials. OECD states that Test Guideline 318: Dispersion Stability of Nanomaterials in Simulated Environmental Media provides a simple and effective tool that can… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesAs reported in our August 30, 2017, blog item, the “Technology Development Pathways: Case Studies from the [National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)]” workshop will be held November 1, 2017. According to NNI, the workshop will showcase application areas where nanotechnology has had commercial impact. Keynote presentations will highlight the pathways companies have taken to get from… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchOn October 24, 2017, the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) will hold a webinar on Safe by Design for nanomaterials. NIA states that the webinar is free and open to all actors interested in nanomaterials and their safe management throughout their lifecycle, using the principles of Safe by Design from the earliest development stages. According to… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 80004-13:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Vocabulary — Part 13: Graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials.” According to ISO, over the last decade, interest has arisen in graphene due to its “many exceptional properties.” More recently, other materials with a similar structure have also shown promising properties, including… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on September 6, 2017, that an RIVM researcher, Joris Meesters, modified SimpleBox, a distribution model for chemicals, to create SimpleBox4nano, a model to calculate concentrations of nanoparticles in water, soil, and air. SimpleBox4nano includes new processes that specifically apply to nanoparticles, such as… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in ResearchOn August 30, 2017, Environmental Science & Technology, an American Chemical Society (ACS) publication, published a study entitled “Characterization and Control of Nanoparticle Emission during 3D Printing.” According to the abstract, the study aimed to evaluate particle emission characteristics and to evaluate several control methods used to reduce particle emissions during three-dimensional (3D) printing. Experiments… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe European Commission (EC) Environment Directorate General (DG) published an August 2017 report entitled Assessing the environmental safety of manufactured nanomaterials. The report “shows that, despite early fears, nano-sized particles are not inherently more toxic than larger particles; however, differences between them may be notable and new insights are still being provided by research.” The… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 20477:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Standard terms and their definition for cellulose nanomaterial.” The standard states that in industrial productions, cellulose nanomaterials can be manufactured by conversion of wood pulp through chemical, biological, or mechanical processes. Due to their renewable nature and unique properties, cellulose nanomaterials have… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesThe “Technology Development Pathways: Case Studies from the [National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)]” workshop will be held November 1, 2017. According to NNI, the workshop will showcase application areas where nanotechnology has had commercial impact. Keynote presentations will highlight the pathways companies have taken to get from research to commercialization. Panel discussions will focus on specific… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,Research,United StatesOn August 23, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice requesting comment on its draft National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) for Manufacturing for public comment. The NORA Manufacturing Sector Council wrote the Agenda, which “identifies the most important occupational safety and health research needs for the next… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesOn July 20, 2017, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced 13 grants worth $4.6 million for research on the next generation of agricultural technologies and systems to meet the growing demand for food, fuel, and fiber. NIFA states that funded projects support nanotechnology-based solutions that improve… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchIn July 2017, the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) published a report entitled Evaluation of the availability and applicability of computational approaches in the safety assessment of nanomaterials: Final report of the Nanocomput project. The main aims of the Nanocomput Project were to review and assess the current status of computational methods that… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in Federal,Research,United StatesThe National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on July 27, 2017, entitled “The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) Nodes and Environmental Research: Examples from the Field.” The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports NNCI, which includes 16 user facility sites, their affiliated partners, and a coordinating office. NNCI sites provide researchers, academics, small and… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe Journal of Nanobiotechnology published a special issue on the outcome of Switzerland’s five-year National Research Program on the “Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials” (NRP 64). The editorial states that the Program’s primary goal was to investigate potential applications of existing nanomaterials in healthcare, the consumer industry, and in the environment, and to identify, characterize,… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) seeks comments on the NANoREG-proposed ISA-TAB-nano templates. According to CEINT, the ISA-TAB-nano file sharing format, developed under the National Cancer Informatics Program Nanotechnology Working Group (NCIP NanoWG), is an accepted ASTM standard (ASTM International E2909-13). In 2016, the European Union NANoREG project adopted and adapted the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published standard ISO/TR 19601:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Aerosol generation for air exposure studies of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates (NOAA).” ISO states that, to evaluate the inhalation toxicity of NOAA, it is important to consider certain parameters that make the toxicity testing relevant to human exposure. Three critical… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS) published a draft Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) Document, Principles and Methods to Assess the Risk of Immunotoxicity Associated with Exposure to Nanomaterials. According to IPCS, the target audience is risk assessors in a regulatory setting, researchers, and industry that needs to provide the data… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,Occupational Health and Safety Issues,ResearchOn June 14, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced the launch of the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON). ECHA states that EUON “offers a unique web-based information point with factual and neutral content about nanomaterials on the EU market.” EUON is targeted at a wide audience, including consumers, workers, regulators, and scientists. … Continue Reading
