At its June 22, 2007, meeting, the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) reviewed nominations of several substances for testing, including nanoscale silver. The Food and Drug Administration nominated nanoscale silver for toxicological studies “based on (a) increasing widespread use in drug, food and cosmetic products, and (b) the general lack of data on the toxicology and pharmacokinetics of these materials.” Comments on the...
June 26, 2007
Nano-Bio Interaction Workshop Materials Available
The International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) held a workshop entitled “Towards Predicting Nano-Bio Interactions” on June 5-7, 2007. The plenary presentations and meeting information are now online....
EHP-in-Press published an article entitled “Persistent Tissue Kinetics and Redistribution of Nanoparticles, Quantum Dot 705, in Mice: ICP-MS Quantitative Assessment.” The purpose of the study was to assess the tissue disposition and pharmacokinetics of quantum dots (QD705) in mice. According to the article, the plasma half-life of QD705 in mice was short (18.5 hours), but analyses revealed QD705 persisted and even continued to increase in the spleen, liver, and kidney 28...
On June 4, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a new advisory committee intended to counsel FDA on how to strengthen the communication of risks and benefits of FDA-regulated products to the public. The Risk Communication Advisory Committee will:...
On June 18, 2007, the Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus will host a briefing on Nanotechnology Applications for Renewable Energy. On July 16, 2007, the Caucus will host a briefing on Nanotechnology Applications for Energy Conservation. Each event will begin at 2 p.m. (EDT). The purpose of the Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus is to promote nanotechnology, educate policy makers about this emerging area, and facilitate communications between industrial and academic...
The July 2007 issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology includes an article entitled “Limits and Prospects of the ‘Incremental Approach’ and the European Legislation on the Management of Risks Related to Nanomaterials.” According to the authors, the European Commission (EC) has adopted an incremental approach, focusing on adopting existing laws to regulate nanotechnologies. The authors concluded that the current regulations fail to address the...
The European Commission (EC) will hold its annual Green Week in Brussels, Belgium, from June 12-15, 2007. On June 14, 2007, an afternoon session will examine the benefits of nanotechnology for the environment and on how nanotechnologies could help to solve major environmental problems, e.g., climate change, energy efficiency, resources use, remediation and pollution prevention, opportunities for developing countries, as well as the potential risks for environment...
On April 24, 2007, the Kojo Nnamdi Show, a news magazine program on National Public Radio (NPR), aired a program entitled “New Approaches to Nanotechnology.” The program featured: David Rejeski, Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars/Pew Charitable Trusts; Rick Weiss, Science and Medicine Reporter, The Washington Post; Jeffrey Schloss, Co-Chair, Trans-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nano Taskforce, NIH; and...
The July 2007 issue of Consumer Reports includes an article entitled “NANOtechnology: Untold Promise, Untold Risk.” According to Consumer Reports, while nanotechnology “promises to be the most important innovation since electricity and the internal combustion engine,” “some applications might pose substantial risks to human health and the environment.” The article states that nanomaterials are already being used in consumer products such as car wax,...
May 30, 2007
PEN Report Recommends TSCA Amendments
On May 23, 2007, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) released a report entitled EPA and Nanotechnology: Oversight for the 21st Century, which identifies actions that should be taken to establish an oversight system. The report focuses in particular on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which it describes as “a key agency in any oversight effort because of its numerous regulatory authorities and its mission...
May 29, 2007
Report Cites Lack of Data Regarding Effectiveness of Regulations to Manage Potential Nanotechnology Risks
According to a recent report entitled Nanomaterials in Consumer Products, the extent to which a variety of European regulations would manage potential risks of nanomaterials in consumer products cannot be assessed. The report was prepared for the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety. According to the report, which is not publicly available, “[u]ntil there are data on which to determine the nature of any risks posed by...
On May 17, 2005, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released a report entitled Environmentally Beneficial Nanotechnologies: Barriers and Opportunities, which provides the results of a study exploring ways in which nanotechnology could reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources and greenhouse gas emissions. The study investigated the opportunities and potential obstacles to adoption of a number of environmentally beneficial...
On May 15, 2007, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) issued a report entitled Nanotechnology’s Invisible Threat: Small Science, Big Consequences, which claims that the U.S. government has failed “to use its authority to protect citizens from the potentially dangerous effects of nano-scale chemistry.” NRDC proposes a three-part framework for regulating nanomaterials, and based the framework on a precautionary approach to managing toxic chemicals:...
It has been suggested by some that REACH’s application to nanoparticles and nanomaterials is unclear. While it is true that REACH does not specifically mention nanoparticles or nanoscale materials anywhere in its 800+ pages of text, we note that in December 2006, shortly after the regulation’s adoption by the European Parliament, the European Commission posted on its website a question-and-answer document that includes the following two exchanges: Will the use of hazardous...
May 22, 2007
U.S. – European Union Integration on Nanotechnology
At the 2007 U.S.-European Union (EU) Summit in Washington, D.C. late last month, President Bush and European Union (EU) leaders signed an economic integration agreement, the Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration Between the United States of America and the European Union. With respect to nanotechnology, the accord commits the U.S. and EU to the following:...
May 21, 2007
New NSF-Funded Study on Silver Nanoparticles
Two researchers at the University of Missouri — Columbia’s College of Engineering have received an $84,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the potential effects of silver nanoparticles on wastewater treatment systems. According to a university press release, Baolin Deng, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Zhiqiang Hu, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, “will determine how silver...
On May 11, 2007, the United Kingdom (UK) Health & Safety Executive (HSE) published its first bulletin on nanotechnology research. The bulletin is intended to provide an overview of published studies that have examined the exposure and potential health effects of nanomaterials, particularly in the occupational setting. According to HSE, inevitably there will be some overlap between studies of exposure of other groups (i.e. consumers). HSE screened the literature search...
On May 10, 2007, the European Commission (EC) announced the availability of the results of its April 16, 2007, workshop on intellectual property rights (IPR) in nanotechnology. The objective of the workshop was to identify specific IPR issues for nanotechnology and to discuss possible consequences for patent offices, policy makers, patent consultants, and the research community. Ongoing academic and political discussions have identified many aspects, such as the costs of...
On May 10, 2007, EHP-in-Press posted an article entitled “Reviewing the Environmental and Human Health Knowledge Base of Carbon Nanotubes.” The authors reviewed the currently available literature about the human health and environmental risk potential of carbon nanotubes (CNT). The authors also investigated the life cycle of the CNT, as release into different environmental compartments may occur at the production stages as well as the product’s usage and disposal...
Environmental Defense (ED) will hold a webcast regarding its recent report, Not That Innocent: A Comparative Analysis of Canadian, European Union and United States Policies on Industrial Chemicals, on May 24, 2007, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EDT). The webcast will include a 45-minute presentation and a question and answer period. Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at ED, will present the findings and discuss his report, which compares the European Union’s new...