May 7, 2009 | Posted by Richard Denison in ChAMP, EPA, Policy, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, TSCA, Worker Safety
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
As I noted in our first post on ChAMP, after getting off to a strong start in 2007, EPA's abrupt decision in 2008 to steer ChAMP in the direction of cranking out hasty risk decisions was entirely its own. Can ChAMP be put back on track? Read more »
April 23, 2009 | Posted by Richard Denison in ChAMP, EPA, Policy, Regulation, Risk Assessment, TSCA, Worker Safety
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist and Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
This post is the first of a number to come that will examine in some detail specific chemicals and chemical categories for which EPA has made questionable or flawed risk decisions under ChAMP. Many of these problems can be traced to EPA's near-exclusive reliance on incomplete or poor-quality data provided by manufacturers, or its need to resort to unsupported assumptions in the absence of sufficient data. For each posting, we'll summarize what is known about production and use of the chemical(s); describe EPA's hazard, exposure, risk and priority rankings; and then discuss why we question or disagree with EPA's decisions. First up: a category of three alkyl nitriles. Read more »
March 25, 2009 | Posted by Richard Denison in Carbon Nanotubes, Health, Inhalation, NIOSH, Research, Worker Safety
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Some months ago, my colleague John Balbus posted here about studies finding that when multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are injected into the abdominal cavities of mice, they induce inflammation and mesothelioma-like reactions similar to those caused by asbestos. He appropriately cautioned that - among other critical questions - these studies had not demonstrated that inhaled MWCNTs could actually move out of the lung and into the tissues where asbestos gives rise to its effects. Well, that particular dot now appears to have been connected. Read more »
October 13, 2008 | Posted by Richard Denison in Carbon Nanotubes, EPA, Environment, Health, Inhalation, Regulation, TSCA, Testing, Worker Safety
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Since my first post concerning EPA's Consent Order, I've been reflecting further on the management conditions it imposes - or, more accurately, on what conditions it doesn't impose. The Order's only such conditions address potential worker exposure. What about the rest of the nanomaterial's lifecycle? Read more »
October 9, 2008 | Posted by Richard Denison in Carbon Nanotubes, EPA, Environment, Health, Inhalation, Regulation, TSCA, Testing, Worker Safety
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
[Part II of this post is available here.]
Word hit the street today that EPA intends to make public a "sanitized" version of a Consent Order it has negotiated with a producer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). [A link will be provided once available.] We obtained a copy of the Order, which has redacted all information claimed confidential by the company involved. What can we learn from this well-scrubbed Order? Read more »
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.
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?
February 22, 2008 | Posted by Cal Baier-Anderson in Industry, Research, Risk Management, Worker Safety
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
In the current regulatory environment, where there are no regulations that specifically take into account the unique properties of engineered nanomaterials, industry has by default the primary responsibility for their safe production and use. Is industry taking this responsibility seriously?
Two recent studies, one in Europe and one in the U.S., shed light on this question and reveal some reasons to be concerned. Read more »
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