On February 17 2011, the EPA, in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), announced the awarding of $12 million ($5.5 million from the EPA, $500,000 from CPSC, and $6 million from NERC) to three consortia to fund research aimed at providing a greater understanding of potential risks to human health and the environment posed by engineered nanomaterials and their increasing use in a wider variety of products.
The three consortia, the "Consortium for Manufactured Nanomaterial Bioavailability and Environmental Exposure", "Risk Assessment for Manufctured Nanoparticles Used in Consumer Products (RAMNUC)", and "The Transatlantic Initiative for Technology and the Environment", are composed of leading US and UK Universities and research centers, such as Duke University, Carnegie-Mellon University, and Lancaster University. NERC’s $6 million is limited to participating universities and research centers in the UK. The table below provides more information.
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Abstract |
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1 |
Consortium for Manufactured Nanomaterial Bioavailability & Environmental Exposure |
Colvin, Vicki L. |
Rice University,Clemson University,Edinburgh Napier University,Natural History Museum (London),University of Birmingham,University of California – Davis,University of Exeter |
Lasat, Mitch |
$2,000,000 |
August 2010 – |
Environmental Behavior, Bioavailability and Effects of Manufactured Nanomaterials – Joint US – UK Research Program (2009) |
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2 |
Risk Assessment for Manufactured Nanoparticles Used in Consumer Products (RAMNUC) |
Zhang, Junfeng |
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,Duke University,Imperial College |
Lasat, Mitch |
$1,999,995 |
July 2010 – |
Environmental Behavior, Bioavailability and Effects of Manufactured Nanomaterials – Joint US – UK Research Program (2009) |
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3 |
Transatlantic Initiative for Nanotechnology and the Environment |
Bertsch, Paul M. |
University of Kentucky,Carnegie Mellon University,Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,Cranfield University,Duke University,Lancaster University,Rothamsted Research |
Lasat, Mitch |
$2,000,000 |
May 2010 – |
Environmental Behavior, Bioavailability and Effects of Manufactured Nanomaterials – Joint US – UK Research Program (2009) |
The results of the grant supported research "will help researchers determine whether certain nanomaterials can leach out of products . . . when they are used or disposed of and whether they could become toxic to people and the environment. The results could also be used by nanoindustries to create better and safer products.