Several consumer and environmental groups, including the Center for Food Safety and Center for Environmental Health, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for EPA’s alleged failure to respond to the groups’ 2008 petition calling for regulation of consumer products containing nano-sized versions of silver. Ctr. for Food Safety v. EPA, No. 14-2131 (D.D.C., filed December 16, 2014). According to the complaint, the 2008 petition requested that EPA classify nano-silver products as pesticides and provided EPA with a legal, policy and scientific blueprint for necessary action. EPA opened a comment period on the matter later that year but allegedly failed to take any further action. The petition also included an index of products that contained nano-silver, including food storage containers, food/produce cleaners, cutlery, cutting boards, and ingestible “health” drink supplements. The groups assert that nanomaterials “create unique human health and environmental risks,…
Tag Archives nanotechnology
According to a Sustainable Investments Institute report, corporations globally invest some $9 billion annually in nanotechnology, yet less than one-tenth of S&P 500 companies make this information public to shareholders and other stakeholders and none has discussed purported health, environmental or safety risks in their Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-Ks. Shareholders are apparently beginning to engage companies in discussions about these risks; the first ever nano-related shareholder resolution was brought to a vote in 2014 (garnering 18.6 percent support before Dunkin’ Brands’ shareholders), and “[c]oncerned investors are promising to step up their efforts in 2015.” The report outlines issues that investors should consider regarding companies that rely on, develop or use nanotechnology and nanomaterials; the current state of S&P 500 company disclosures; the history of the 30-year development of nanotechnology in the United States, including the most promising areas; currently identified areas of risk; EU and U.S. approaches to…
The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) is joining with the European Commission over the next year to host meetings for the six U.S.-EU Communities of Research (CORs) that focus on environmental, health and safety concerns related to nanomaterials. CORs were established as a means by which scientists can share protocols and identify research gaps and obstacles. Before September 30, 2015, the CORs will hold teleconferences and Webinars addressing (i) exposure through product life, with material characterization; (ii) ecotoxicity testing and predictive models, with material characterization; (iii) predictive modeling for human health, with material characterization; (iv) databases and ontologies; (v) risk assessment; and (vi) risk management and control. More details about the upcoming meetings will be posted here. See Federal Register, September 18, 2014. Issue 538
The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office will host a July 31, 2014, webinar to discuss research undertaken by U.S. government National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) agencies. NNI’s six core research areas include nanomaterial measurement infrastructure; human exposure assessment; human health; environment; risk assessment and risk management methods; and informatics and modeling. See Federal Register, July 22, 2014. Issue 531
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its final guidance on the use of nanotechnology in food as well as draft guidance on use of the technology in animal food. Rather than categorically judging nanotech as either safe or harmful, the agency indicated that it will consider specific characteristics of products with nanotech as they are produced. Among FDA’s nonbinding recommendations are encouragement for food manufacturers’ considerations of composition, safety and regulatory status as well as assurance that the guidance does not change the status of products already generally recognized as safe. The agency also recommends that manufacturers assess whether their implementation of nanotech will change their safety and regulatory status by determining what the physiochemical changes of the food product may be and invites consultations with the FDA about those determinations. “Our goal remains to ensure transparent and predictable regulatory pathways, grounded in the best available science,…
Friends of the Earth has released a May 2014 report titled “Tiny Ingredients Big Risks,” claiming that some popular food products contain unlabeled manufactured nanomaterials. Based on information obtained from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), the report identifies 94 food and beverage products—including almond milk, cereal, soy and dairy products, oils, and sports beverages—that purportedly contain nano-ingredients such as titanium dioxide, silver and “nano-sized self assembled structured liquids” known as micelles. According to the report, the number of products on this list has allegedly increased tenfold since the consumer group published its last report in 2008. “Friends of the Earth calls upon food companies and government regulators to stop this influx of nanofoods into the market, given the absence of regulations to ensure these novel products are safe for human health and the environment and labels to ensure consumer right to know,” opines…
Researchers at Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences have purportedly found that edible films made from pullulan—a transparent polymer produced by the fungus Aureobasidium pulluns, silver nanoparticles, zinc oxide, and oregano and rosemary essential oils—can inhibit foodborne pathogens on meat products. Mohamed K. Morsy, et al., “Incorporation of Essential Oils and Nanoparticles in Pullulan Films to Control Foodborne Pathogens on Meat and Poultry Products,” Journal of Food Science, April 2014. Observing that the films inhibited the growth of four pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli O157:H7—to varying degrees, the researchers concluded that they could form “the basis of a useful packaging tool to improve the safety of meat products.” According to Penn State University Food Science Professor Catherine Cutter, who co-authored the study, the edible films are a “novel but effective way” to deliver antimicrobial agents to meats because the bacteria-killing action lasts longer than the liquid applications traditionally used. “The results from…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a stop sale, use or removal order against New Jersey-based Pathway Investment Corp. concerning company food storage products containing nano silver. According to the agency, these products—Kinetic Go Green Premium food storage containers, Kinetic Smartwist Series containers, TRITAN food storage, and StackSmart Storage—are marketed “as containing nano silver, which the company claims helps reduce the growth of mold, fungus and bacteria.” As such the products contain pesticides and must be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. These products were not registered and were not subjected to efficacy testing. EPA has also notified retailers that have sold the products on their websites to cease doing so. See EPA News Release, March 31, 2014. Issue 519
The European Parliament has reportedly rejected draft rules mandating the labeling of engineered nanomaterials used in food. According to a March 13, 2014, press release, MEPs voted to scrap the proposed measure over concerns that the European Commission’s definition of nanomaterial “would exempt nano-sized food additives already on the market.” In particular, MEPs noted that although the European Union currently defines engineered nanomaterials “as any intentionally produced material whose size is under 100 nanometres,” the commission’s draft rules stipulated that “a nanomaterial should consist of at least 50% of particles having a size between 1-100 nanometres,” an increase over the European Food Safety Authority’s recommended threshold of 10 percent. “The EP has repeatedly called for proper nano-labeling and it is highly surprising that the Commission even tried to weaken what has been decided by both Parliament and the Council,” MEP Carl Schlyter was quoted as saying. “Consumers have the right…
The European Commission-Joint Research Centre and Institute of Food Safety of the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands, at the request of the European Food Safety Authority, have issued a two-part survey regarding nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications that aims to collect information about (i) the current and potential future use of nanomaterials or nanotechnology in agri-food-feed applications, and (ii) regulation, safety assessment and reporting of nanomaterials in different countries. The first part of the survey focuses on the “Production, Use, Import, Research and Development of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and is addressed to (i) companies that produce, import or use the materials in such applications, and (ii) research institutes, research and development departments of industry, or others active in research and development of materials or products containing nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications. The second part of the survey focuses on the “Regulation and Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and…
