Suing to regulate nanotechnology as the House of Representatives usurps regulatory authority - Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

(By Steve Suppan) On December 21, IATP joined five other NGOs, headed by the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), to sue the Food and Drug Administration for failure to regulate nanoparticles. The lawsuit is the first concerning the health and environmental effects of nanoparticles and nanotechnology enabled products. The FDA currently does not require pre-market health and environmental safety testing of nanomaterials prior to their introduction on the marketplace.

EPA Watchdog: Nano Efforts Lacking - New Haven Independent

(By Gwyneth Shaw) In a blunt new report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog finds that the agency lacks both the data and the administrative ability to effectively deal with the challenge posed by super-small materials that are increasingly finding their way into consumer products.

The report, released late last week by the EPA’s inspector general, raises few new issues. But it makes plain the difficulties facing a host of federal agencies as they try to ensure safety without stifling innovation in the ever-broadening field of nanotechnology. While a growing body of evidence suggests there are real questions about the impact of nanomaterials on people, animals and the environment, there are few absolutes in this arena.

Consumer Safety Groups File First Lawsuit on Risks of
Nanotechnology - International Center for Technology Assessment

San Francisco, CA – Concerned by the growing body of scientific reports cautioning against the unregulated use of nanotechnology in consumer products, a coalition of nonprofit consumer safety and environmental groups sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today. The case is the first lawsuit over the health and environmental risks of nanotechnology and nanomaterials.

Report: Watch Nano-Based Food Products - New Haven Independent

(By Gwyneth Shaw) Andrew Schneider, an investigative journalist who’s been tracking the emergence of nanotechnology in food and food-related products, has an interesting story about a recent report on the latest developments.

In Food Safety News, Schneider writes up a new report from As You Sow, an environmental and social advocacy group. The report advises caution on introducing super-small nanoparticles into food and packaging and advocates for safety testing before the ultra-tiny materials hit the shelves.

Nano rules fall foul of data gap - Nature News

(By Eugenie Samuel Reich) The science of the very small will lurk in many a Christmas gift this year. Nanomaterials add strength to golf clubs, odour resistance to socks and ultraviolet protection to cosmetics. But some of their properties could also pose health risks, and regulations covering their manufacture and use have failed to keep pace with the rush to market.

With sizes measured in mere billionths of a metre, nanomaterials have very high surface area relative to their mass, and this could alter their toxicity compared with the same mater­ial in bulk. Yet many nanomaterials are not regulated separately — in part because the high-quality nanotoxicity research needed for regulation is lacking, as an assessment presented at last week’s Materials Research Society meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, made clear.

EPA Grants 1st Approval For Nanopesticide - New Haven Independent

(By Gwyneth Shaw) More than a year after floating the idea, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted the first approval for a pesticide that’s based on a nanoscale material—a Swiss-made antimicrobial nanosilver product used in fabrics.

The EPA announced Thursday that it is moving forward with a four-year “conditional registration” for HeiQ Materials’ AGS-20 product, which is essentially a composite of nanosilver and nanoscale silica. According to HeiQ’s application—first filed in 2008—AGS-20 will be incorporated into textiles.

Nanotechnology risks get minimal press coverage - Chemistry World

(By Helen Carmicheal) A US study has found scant media coverage of the potential risks posed by nanotechnology, with many more articles extolling its future benefits.

In their longitudinal study spanning coverage from 2000 to 2009 - in 20 US, nine UK newspapers and two wire services - the US researchers looked for articles that could alert readers to nanotechnology's risks.

Sharon Friedman and Brenda Egolf, from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, found the number of stories that mentioned risks averaged around just 37 per year in each country. Three main narratives prevailed - runaway technology, science-based studies and regulation - and journalists most often covered health risks, followed by environmental and societal risk issues. Regulation coverage was less frequent but increased over time.

History Haunts Unions - New Haven Independent

(By Gwyneth Shaw) TEMPE, Ariz.—As nanotechnology moves (slowly) from the laboratory to the factory, workers are on the front lines—though you wouldn’t know that from the shop floor.

Like new technologies from the printing press to the Internet, nano is touted as a way to make products work better, potentially reshaping the employment landscape.

And, like prior scientific and chemical breakthroughs, nanotechnology may bear some risk for workers. Already, ultra-tiny substances like carbon nanotubes and nano-sized titanium dioxide have drawn the attention of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which has moved to recommend limits for occupational exposure.

EPA Seeks Information Concerning Discharges of Nanosilver from Industrial Manufacturing - Nanotechnology Law Blog

(By Lynn L. Bergeson) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in an October 26, 2011, Federal Register notice its final 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan, which includes a request for comment and information for its 2011 annual reviews. EPA requests information on a number of topics, including discharges of nanosilver from industrial manufacturing. EPA cites nanosilver’s use as an active pesticide ingredient, an antimicrobial in fabric; a preservative in textile products, and coating in drums in washing machines. EPA states that, since many of these uses have the potential to create a source of silver in wastewater discharges, it “is interested in gathering as much information as possible on the fate, transport and effects of nanosilver on the aquatic environment and human health.” Comments on EPA’s 2011 reviews are due November 25, 2011.

Smart, But Toxic? - New Haven Independent

The New York Times’ Dylan Walsh asks a great question: Is anyone thinking about the potential downsides to the growing field of “wired” textiles? Not really, apparently.

Walsh quotes researcher Andreas Kohler, who recently published a paper looking at the basic disposal issues for wearable wiring, including the potential for the metals woven into the fabric (including gold and copper) to get into water or soil. According to Walsh, Kohler asked some of the folks developing these textiles about safety.