Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
I hate to say it, but Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union, and the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) have done a disservice to good science and policy with their new superficial report Manufactured Nanomaterials and Sunscreens: Top Reasons for Precaution. Read More
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist and Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
This example raises some new issues as well as some we discussed in the earlier examples: EPA relies on a highly flawed “category approach” that ignores major differences in the properties and structures of the 13 members of this category. It compounds this problem by unquestioningly accepting data from inadequate studies to assert low toxicity, rather than demanding that sufficient studies be provided. As a result, it fails to identify, let alone require to be filled, the enormous gaps in the data available for many of the category members. EPA ignores or dismisses without explanation its own earlier comments raising serious concerns about the quality and completeness of data provided by the sponsor of these chemicals under the HPV Challenge. Finally, this example once again shows how EPA’s heavy reliance on self-reported use information from manufacturers paints an incomplete and potentially very misleading picture of the actual uses of industrial chemicals. Read More
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist and Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.
Our analysis of EPA’s risk decision under ChAMP for this category of toxic chemicals vividly illustrates how EPA has failed to adopt a health-protective approach to its screening of HPV chemicals. Rather, it misclassifies or understates these chemicals’ hazards, asserts that existing regulations are sufficient even when they are quite old or do not cover identified exposures, and naively assumes that children will not be as exposed as adults to consumer products used in the home unless they are intended for their use. Finally, this case demonstrates that manufacturers are not reporting to EPA even readily available information on their chemicals’ uses. Read More
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
In May 2008, the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) submitted a petition to EPA requesting that it regulate nano-silver used in products as a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The petition calls on EPA to take the following specific actions:
Cal Baier-Anderson, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
In 2004, Gunter Oberdorster and colleagues demonstrated that upon inhalation, ultrafine particles, the dimensions of which are measured in nanometers, can move from the nasal passages of rodents to the brain via a specialized nerve called the olfactory bulb. The evolutionary purpose of the olfactory bulb is to relay information about odors directly and rapidly from the nose to the brain.
The extent to which rapid transit via the olfactory bulb is a significant potential route of exposure to engineered nanomaterials is still an open question. But two new papers add support for the relevance of this intriguing exposure pathway, raising important questions regarding the safety of inhaled nanoparticles.
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
