NIA Member Keller and Heckman LLP has released a document commenting that ‘it is unclear how numerous national reporting schemes will help to deliver better knowledge or promote a more adequate and rapid response in the event of a specific risk being identified’ than the EC’s REACH Regulation
The US National Cancer Institute (NCI) has requested public comments on the progress reports proposed for its partnership program, the Cancer Nanotechnology Platform Partnerships (CNPP). The NCI, will create these partnerships through its Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, ‘a network of awards funded…to promote the application of nanotechnology to cancer research and care’
A draft meeting report of the ANSI Nanotechnology Standards Panel has stated that ‘stakeholders struggle to stay up to date with various regulatory requirements that each rely on a different definition for nanomaterials’. It therefore emphasised that ‘consistent terminology is a critical need for not only enhancing commerce but understanding the scope of the conversation’
The US EPA has announced that it is ‘promulgating SNURs under the TSCA for 15 chemical substances’. One of these substances is ‘functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs)’. The ruling will be effective from 8 July 2013
The EC’s JRC-IHCP has published a report quantifying the ‘consequences for industry, consumers, human health and the environment’ of proposed modifications for the REACH Regulation. It finds the total implementation cost of the proposed options to be between EUR 11 and EUR 73 million
Environment Agency Austria is running a third consultation on the ‘draft methodology manual for the identification and assessment of substances for a potential restriction under RoHS 2 (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)’. The NIA recently submitted comments on the second consultation, urging the removal of references that categorise nanomaterials as ‘Substances of the highest Concern’
The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy has extended the deadline for first-year declarations to be made to its nano reporting scheme. According to the authority this follows consideration of ‘the diversity of actors covered by the declaration requirement, and at the request of several industries’
A research consortium funded by the US NIEHS. The authors of the paper nevertheless stress that ‘the approach used in these studies was not intended to mimic real-world exposure conditions or deposition patterns in the lung that would occur via inhalation’; rather, it was ‘to evaluate whether different laboratories could generate similar and reproducible results with ENMs’
A number of Belgian NGOs have supported an open letter calling for the establishment of a Belgian register of nanomaterials. The letter states that more and more products containing nanomaterials are appearing on the market and yet little is known about them and their impacts on human health and the environment
The EU’s Scientific Committees have published an opinion that states there is ‘an urgent need’ to develop ‘methods…to characterize the exposure for nanomaterials’. The paper looks at ecological and human-health risk assessment. NIA provided comments on the draft version of this document, calling for better quality control and more realism
The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment has published documents summarising the findings of its recently held Building Blocks for Completing EU Regulation of Nanomaterials conference. This event was attended by NIA; it has provided comments on the outcomes of the event for the article Nanomaterials data insufficient, concludes Dutch workshop
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that ‘single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNTs) applications…show promise for improving the energy density and ultimate performance of the Li-ion batteries in vehicles’. The remarks were published in a recently released paper on lithium ion batteries
The increasing use of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) in consumer products raises the issue of its dispersion in the environment and specifically in water. Due to its biocidal properties nanosilver may be considered a harmful substance. A recent study from Switzerland has however concluded otherwise
A study presented at an event hosted and attended by MEPs has concluded that ‘nanomaterials in food packaging do not migrate to food’. The presentation, Can nano particles migrate from food contact plastics into foods?, also stated that ‘a more risk-based approach to safety research offers far more clarity than labelling alone’
A recently published study has stated that ‘one may conclude that the development of nanotechnologies is symptomatic of a new form of policy making’. The report, The Challlenges of Nanotechnology Policy Making, suggests that nanotechnology has led to a form of policy making ‘where national decisions or roadmaps about regulatory frameworks may well be superseded by new forms of international regulation which are being put into place more or less independently of individual nation states’
A number of German institutions have jointly published a report providing a ‘set of recommendations for future safety assessments of nanomaterials’. Entitled Nanotechnology – Health and Environmental Risks of Nanomaterials, the document drew its conclusions by analysing ‘over 80 [national] research projects on nanomaterials'
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a report, entitled Guidance on Sample Preparation and Dosimetry for the Safety Testing of Manufactured Nanomaterials. It is of particular importance as it could be of practical value when applying existing OECD Test Guidelines and other testing methods to nanomaterials
The UK's Health and Safety Executive has released guidance on 'how to control occupational exposure to manufactured nanomaterials in the workplace'. Entitled Using nanomaterials at work: Including carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and other biopersistent high aspect ratio nanomaterials (HARNs), the document 'has been prepared in response to emerging evidence about the toxicity of these materials'
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has approved funding for the creation of an inventory of the applications of nanotechnologies for the areas of food and feed. After a tender procedure, the contract was awarded to the RIKILT Research Institute in The Netherlands. It is for a 12 month work and the amount awarded is € 94 955.
