Public Forum to Target Safety of Exposure to Nanoscale Materials; EPA Gathers Data; Shareholders Urge Disclosure of Nanomaterials in Personal Care and Food Products
The NNCO has announced that a public forum will be held in Bethesda, Maryland, February 24-25, 2009, “to discuss the state-of-the-art of the science related to environmental, health, and safety aspects of engineered nanoscale materials in the area of human and environmental exposure assessment.” Workshop participants will also “discuss the path forward for addressing research needs in this area.” According to the notice, priority research needs that have been identified include (i) “characterizing exposure among workers,” (ii) “characterizing exposure to the general population from industrial processes and industrial and consumer products containing nanomaterials,” and (iii) “characterizing the health of exposed populations and environments.”
NNCO has indicated that the information provided during the forum will be used to manage the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s environmental, health and safety research strategy. See Federal Register, January 15, 2009.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has issued an interim report titled
“Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program,” that represents a summary of information the agency has received from companies and trade associations about nanoscale materials used in commerce. According to the report, while most submissions “included information on physical and chemical properties, commercial use (realized or projected), basic manufacturing and processes as well as risk management practices . . . very few submissions provided either toxicity or fate studies.” EPA apparently intends to use the information “in future nanoscale material regulatory and research work.”
And in a related development, a corporate responsibility organization has informed the BNA Daily Environment Report that shareholder resolutions urging companies to disclose the nanomaterials in their personal care and food products have been filed with a cosmetics manufacturer and three food companies for their 2009 annual meetings According to the associate director of the As You Sow Foundation’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program, “In general, ‘product safety’ resolutions have been increasing over the last four years, and a virtually unregulated new technology such as nanotech will be sure to get increased shareholder attention.” The shareholders will also
reportedly press companies to describe their policies for handling nanomaterials.
Similar shareholder resolutions were reportedly filed against several companies in 2008; the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently allowed one targeted retailer to dismiss it, concluding that these resolutions are more appropriate for product manufacturers. A 2008 resolution submitted to Avon Products Inc. reportedly found favor with 25.4 percent of shareholders, a result considered to be a success among advocacy groups, given that resolutions of this nature generally receive 5 to 6 percent favorable votes. See BNA Daily Environment Report, January 15, 2009.
