By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchOn January 22-24, 2019, a Mexico-European Union (EU) workshop on nanosafety was held in Mexico. The aim of the workshop was to establish a stronger connection between the Mexican and European research communities within the context of bringing scientific information to the risk assessment, risk management, and policy levels. According to the workshop report, Mexico… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) opens its scientific laboratories and facilities, including its Nanobiotechnology Laboratory, to people working in academia and research organizations, industry, and small and medium enterprises (SME). JRC opened a call on February 1, 2019, for the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory for the following priority topics: Nanomaterial characterization, including their interactions… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe February 2019 issue of the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) Newsletter includes an interview with Eva Valsami-Jones, Professor of Environmental Nanoscience at the University of Birmingham and leader of the European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster Coordination Team, on research on the safety of nanomaterials. The NanoSafety Cluster coordinates the funding of research projects at the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory Issues,ResearchThe February 2019 issue of Computational Toxicology includes an article entitled “Grouping of multi-walled carbon nanotubes to read-across genotoxicity: A case study to evaluate the applicability of regulatory guidance.” The article describes a case study, performed by scientists at the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC), to explore and illustrate read-across of genotoxicity data… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) published on February 13, 2019, a report entitled An overview of concepts and terms used in the European Commission’s definition of nanomaterial. The report supports the implementation of the EC’s Recommendation on a definition of nanomaterial (2011/696/EU). It addresses the definition’s key concepts and terms and discusses… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on January 30, 2019, that it has submitted a restriction proposal for microplastic particles that are intentionally added to mixtures used by consumers or professionals. According to ECHA, if adopted, the restriction could reduce the amount of microplastics released to the environment in the European Union (EU) “by about… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) provides information on nanomaterials to a wide audience on subjects including safety, innovation, and research. It also covers the existing EU legislation on nanomaterials and the presence and uses of specific substances on the EU market. EUON is currently conducting a survey to allow stakeholders to express… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) conducts up to three studies annually. The studies are intended to address knowledge gaps relating to nanomaterials that are of interest to the general public and the research community. EUON announced on January 14, 2019, that it is now looking for topic suggestions that could be addressed… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn November 7, 2018, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published the tenth revision of The SCCS Notes of Guidance for the Testing of Cosmetic Ingredients and Their Safety Evaluation. The guidance contains relevant information on the different aspects of testing and safety evaluation of cosmetic substances in Europe. The document… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) announced on October 5, 2018, that the NanoReg2 project, of which NIA is a partner, has published a comprehensive review of European Union (EU) legislation addressing chemical substances and the potential for grouping and read across in nanomaterials. The article, “Insights into possibilities for grouping and read-across for nanomaterials in… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe Environment Council of the Council of the European Union (EU) met on October 9, 2018. According to the outcome of the Council meeting, the items debated under any other business included the “Berlin Declaration” on nanomaterials, submitted by the German delegation and supported by the French and Luxembourg delegations. The Berlin Declaration summarizes the… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe European Commission (EC) has published a success story, “Controlling light at the nanoscale thanks to graphene.” The EC notes graphene, “an atomically thin lattice of carbon, has many exceptional properties.” A European Union (EU)-funded project is focusing on the unique capabilities of graphene plasmons to transport and control light emissions at spatial scales far… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe September 2018 issue of the ECHA Newsletter includes an article entitled “Are the new REACH information requirements for nanos relevant for you?” written by Jenny Holmqvist, Coordinator for Nanomaterials for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). As reported in our April 26, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of… 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 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,ResearchOn July 17, 2018, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced the availability of a study that it commissioned, Critical review of the relevance and reliability of data sources, methods, parameters and determining factors to produce market studies on manufactured nanomaterials on the EU market. The study presents the results of a critical… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,ResearchThe European Commission (EC) announced on June 15, 2018, that researchers from the European Union (EU)-funded NANOPACK project found a solution for extending food shelf-life by using smart antimicrobial surfaces applied to active food packaging. According to the EC, the researchers are now running five pilot production runs of the new polymer composite, based on… 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 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 International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesOn March 13, 2018, the European Commission (EC) Ombudsman issued its recommendation in a case concerning the EC’s refusal to grant access to its catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetics, as well as to related notification from cosmetics manufacturers. As reported in our August 8, 2017, blog item, ClientEarth announced on July 31, 2017, that… Continue Reading
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on Posted in International,Legal/Regulatory IssuesThe European Environmental Bureau (EEB) announced on December 22, 2017, the availability of its assessment of the environmental performance of the Estonian Presidency of the European Union (EU). The assessment is based on the results of “Ten Green Tests” laid out at the beginning of Estonia’s Presidency. The eighth test is protecting the public from… Continue Reading
