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…
Tag Archives nanotechnology
The Air Resources Board (ARB) of California’s Environmental Protection Agency has published a request for research concepts for its 2009-2010 annual research plan. Among the general areas of research that ARB would like to fund are issues related to agriculture and to health and exposure. The deadline for concept submissions is January 20, 2009. Due to anticipated budget shortfalls, the agency has indicated that co-funded proposals are more likely to be approved and funded. ARB is interested in funding research relating to confined animal facility operations emissions, pesticide emission assessments, air emissions in agricultural ecosystems involving “nitrogen fate from fertilizer application,” and “[c]omparative assessment of emissions from various agricultural practices, including conservation management, conservation tillage, and use of equipment to reduce particulate entrainment emissions or VOC emissions.” Under the “health and exposure” rubric, ARB is seeking concept submissions relating to the “[i]mpact of nanoparticles in products and materials on personal…
An ISO technical committee focusing on nanotechnology issues has developed a technical report (ISO/TR 12885:2008) that provides “advice for companies, researchers, workers and other people to prevent adverse health and safety consequences during the production, handling, use and disposal of manufactured nanomaterials.” Titled Health and Safety Practices in Occupational Settings Relevant to Nanotechnologies, the report “is expected to be widely adopted as a foundation for national nanotechnology occupational safety and health programs around the world,” according to the project leader, who also serves as special assistant to the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. ISO is an international standard-setting organization that brings together experts from around the world to establish technical standards that are often adopted by the governments of member states; each national delegation develops its positions in consultation with all potentially affected stakeholders. The group that developed this report is ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies, Working Group…
The California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program’s Scientific Guidance Panel decided at a December 4-5, 2008, meeting that it would designate diesel exhaust and flame retardants as the first substances the state will monitor in humans under a 2006 law (SB 1379) requiring the establishment of a state biomonitoring program. The panel also reportedly agreed that the program’s pilot project would focus on analyzing maternal-infant blood samples from 250 subject pairs. A spokesperson with the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) apparently indicated that antimicrobials and synthetic hormones used in animal husbandry will be discussed at a future meeting. Environmentalists who attended the meeting reportedly urged the panel to prioritize other chemicals such as bisphenol A, nano silver and phthalates. According to a press report, panel members asked OEHHA legal counsel whether another 2006 law (A.B. 289) could be applied to the biomonitoring program. That law apparently authorizes a state…
The National Research Council (NRC) has published a report, titled Review of Federal Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research, that finds “serious weaknesses in the government’s plan for research on the potential health and environmental risks posed by nanomaterials, which are increasingly being used in consumer goods and industry.” NRC describes the research plan developed under the auspices of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) as “incomplete,” noting that it does not “include research goals to help ensure that nanotechnologies are developed and used as safely as possible.” According to a December 10, 2008, NRC press release, the NNI plan takes only a cursory look at important research areas like “Nanomaterials and Human Health,” which should “include a more comprehensive evaluation of how nanomaterials are absorbed and metabolized by the body and how toxic they are at realistic exposure levels.” NRC also faults the NNI for failing to incorporate vital input from…
EPA has published a notice seeking public comment on a petition filed by a number of environmental and consumer interest groups calling on the agency to classify nano-silver as a pesticide, require “formal pesticide registration of all products containing nanoscale silver, analyze the potential human health and environmental risks of nanoscale silver, [and] take regulatory actions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) against existing products that contain nanoscale silver.” Comments must be submitted by January 20, 2008. According to the notice, potentially affected parties are those businesses “engaged in the manufacturing of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.” The petitioners, including the International Center for Technology Assessment, Friends of the Earth, Food & Water Watch, and the Consumers Union, apparently note that “scientists have identified that nanoscale materials can have fundamentally different properties from the non-nanoscale or bulk forms of the same compounds, and that these unique properties…
The International Council on Nanotechnology (ICON) has announced the launch of a database analysis tool that enables nanotechnology research comparisons. The tool is used in conjunction with ICON’s database of citations to peer-reviewed publications addressing the environmental, health and safety impacts of nanomaterials. According to ICON Director Kristen Kulinowski, “In addition to returning a list of abstracts that meet the criteria chosen by the user, the database now allows the user to analyze research trends across time and by category.” The comparisons are presented as pie charts and bar graphs. Intended users are researchers at universities, non-governmental organizations, government, and industry worldwide. They will be able to (i) “Compare categories within a specific time range, e.g., selecting papers published between 2000-2007 and requesting the number that studied nanoscale carbons, oxides, metals and semiconductors”; (ii) “Track the progression of publications in a given category by month or year, e.g., plotting the number…
Cornell University researchers have reportedly developed a nanoscale application that could lead to rapid testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), which partly funded the project, recently highlighted the National Research Initiative (NRI) as a step toward improving the safety of the food supply. “A better method of prion detection is necessary to allay public fears, ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply, and enhance international trade,” stated a CSREES press release. The preliminary testing device is based on a nanotechnology device known as a resonator created by Harold Craighead and his colleagues at Cornell University in conjunction with Richard Montagna at Innovative Biotechnologies International, Inc. “When prions bind to the resonator’s silicon sensor, it changes the vibrational resonant frequency of the device,” according to CSREES. This sensor is able to detect prions in saline solution “at…
The EFSA Scientific Committee is seeking comments on a draft scientific opinion that addresses engineered nanomaterials (ENM) used in food and feed applications. Acknowledging the limitations of currently available methods, the draft concludes that “established international approaches” are “a suitable starting point for case-by-case risk assessment of ENMs,” but warns against extrapolating scientific data derived from conventional chemical use. “Possible risks arise because ENM have particular characteristics, due in part to their small size and high surface areas,” the committee stated in an October 17, 2008, press release. “There is limited information on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, as well as the toxicity of ENM.” Comments will be accepted through the EFSA website until December 1, 2008. See GMA Biotechnology Digest, October 20, 2008.
A recent FSAI report addresses the application of nanotechnology to the food industry and urges the European Union (EU) to provide a legislative framework for regulating nanotechnology in food. Citing a general lack of information concerning the purported risks of nanoparticles in food, FSAI recommends the following: (i) “food business operators should conduct risk assessments on all foods involving introduction of new nanoparticles into foods and packaging”; (ii) “legal provisions should be considered at EU level to ensure that food and feed should be re-evaluated in terms of safety whenever the properties are changed/re-engineered to the nanoscale”; (iii) “the FSAI should promote the establishment of a publicly available inventory of nanotechnology-based food products and food contact materials”; (iv) “urgent consideration should be given to whether additional controls are required on the disposal and/or recycling of nanoparticle-containing food and other materials”; and (v) “food surveillance programmes should include investigation of the…
