Posts in 'Consumer Products'
November 18, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Carbon Nanotubes, Consumer Products, EPA, Environment, Fullerenes, Health, Regulation
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
Can nanoparticles get into our drinking water and if so, what's the harm?
Nanoparticles are being used in cosmetics and other personal care products with increasing frequency. Carbon fullerenes, also known as buckyballs, have recently been touted as imparting age-defying antioxidant benefits when added to skin cream. And there are some studies that seem to support these claims. But even if such claimed benefits turn out to be true, this is by no means the end of the story. Read more »
September 8, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Consumer Products, EPA, Regulation, U.S. Government
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
I have just finished reading yet another depressing/infuriating publication by the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. The new report delineates the many limitations faced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in addressing nanotechnology health risks. The law governing the CPSC has significant weaknesses that prevent it from meeting critical needs, such as constraints on the ability to collect data, require reporting of known hazards, order recalls and promulgate mandatory safety standards.
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August 7, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Carbon Nanotubes, Consumer Products, Health, Risk Assessment
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
We often think of nanotechnology as the latest product of ultra-modern science, but humans did not invent the nanoscale. We were not even the first to use materials with nanoscale features: The gecko beat us to it by several million years. Even more impressive, this little reptile has managed to use nanoscale materials apparently without experiencing any ill effects. It remains to be seen if we will be able to do this.
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July 22, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Consumer Products, Health, Industry, Regulation, Worker Safety
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
Andrew Maynard, of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, recently blogged about an Australian study that documented an odd effect of sunscreens containing nanoscale titanium dioxide (TiO2). The study was prompted by the observation that installers of metal roofs who used these sunscreens inadvertently transferred the product onto the roofs. In places where the workers’ skin had touched the painted metal surfaces, the paint showed accelerated weathering. Why? Because the particular type of nanoscale TiO2 in the sunscreen (the anatase crystal form) is photoactive – when it absorbs UV light, it releases free radicals that speed up the oxidation of the underlying paint.
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July 16, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Consumer Products, Health, Risk Management, Worker Safety
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
Ah, summer! It’s a great time to be outdoors, enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Before you go outside, be sure to grab your sunscreen, that essential product that protects against skin cancer and sun damage. But which kind of sunscreen is best? There is a mesmerizing array of sunscreen options, but for our purposes let’s limit the question to one: Nano or not nano?
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July 9, 2008 |
Posted by Scott Walsh in
Consumer Products, Industry, Regulation, Risk Management
Scott Walsh, MBA, is a Project Manager.
Nanotechnology is a global phenomenon: Organizations all over the world are working to develop and deploy nanotechnology applications. Interest in minimizing the potential health, environmental and safety risks of nanotechnology is similarly global. One of many indications: Over the past year, EDF and DuPont's Nano Risk Framework has been downloaded more than 3,000 times in nearly 100 countries.
Recognizing the international interest in the Framework, EDF and DuPont have now made it available in three major languages: Mandarin, French, and Spanish. (The Framework's executive summary is also available in Portuguese.) These translations will allow organizations around the world to better understand and apply the Framework's guidance to assess, mitigate, and communicate about potential nanomaterial risks.
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June 9, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Consumer Products, Environment, Health, Research
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
The proliferation of nanoscale materials in consumer products is impressive: nano titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in sunscreen, buckyballs in face creams, and nanosilver in socks are but a few examples of what is currently available for purchase. But they make me wonder: what happens when the nanomaterials in or released from these products are washed down the drain? Read more »
April 29, 2008 |
Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in
Consumer Products, EPA, Environment, Health, Nanosilver
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
A recent article posted on scienceline includes a claim that bacteria cannot develop resistance to silver, which is widely used as an antimicrobial. That assertion is not only false, but also dangerous. Read more »
March 5, 2008 |
Posted by Richard Denison in
Consumer Products, Risk Assessment
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Just after publishing my last post, I learned that the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Products has released a new Scientific Opinion that concludes current risk assessment procedures and methods applied to cosmetics, in particular sunscreens, are insufficient. Read more »
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