Monthly Archives: June 2008

EPA Nano Authority under TSCA, Part 3: Can EPA Track “Existing” Nanomaterials?

By Richard Denison / Published: June 27, 2008

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

[Links to posts in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5]

This was going to be the last post in my series on the fate of nanomaterials under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), where I turn to what will likely be – at least in the near term – the most common regulatory scenario that will apply:  the extent to which EPA has authority to regulate nanomaterials as “existing” chemicals under TSCA.  But there’s so much to cover that I’ve decided to split this last topic into three separate posts.  Read More »

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The Next Mile Marker on the Road to High Throughput In Vitro Screening?

By John Balbus / Published: June 24, 2008

John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is Chief Health Scientist.

A new paper by Shaw et al., published in May in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “suggests a generalizable and scalable method for the systematic characterization and comparison of novel nanomaterials” using high throughput in vitro tests.  Does this mean that the National Academy of Sciences’ vision for toxicity testing in the 21st century – proposed for conventional chemicals – is already here for nanomaterials?  Not quite.  Read More »

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Nano Down the Drain

By Cal Baier-Anderson / Published: June 9, 2008

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 »

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Mid-course Corrections: House Passes NNI Reauthorization Bill

By Richard Denison / Published: June 6, 2008

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 5940), by a vote of 407-6.  Among other changes, the bill calls for a number of much-needed improvements in how the NNI addresses health and environmental concerns associated with nanotechnology.  See EDF’s news release issued today.

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