By Porter Wright on European Plastics News posted an article on it’s site last week,("Graphene developers seek routes out of the lab"), focusing on challenges to and progress in the commercialization of graphene, specifically its "potential as a mutlifunctional reinforcement in composites". Among the challenges the article raises are: 1) Entangling of 3D carbon nanotubes (CNTS) bundles 2) Individual graphite … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The January 23, 2012 issue of Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Environment Report carried an article (Repoduced with permission from Daily Environment Report, 13 DEN A-11, 1/23/2012. Copyright -2012 by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc (800-372-1033 http://www/bna.com) "Government, Industry, advocacy Groups Work on Carbon Nanotube Release Measures" that focused on the work of the NanoRelease Project. As … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Readers may be interested in learning about a new subscription website devoted to nanoscale carbon — CNT Report. CNT Report is dedicated to bringing its readers the most recent news concerning important issues affecting nanoscale carbon research, development, and commercialization. CNT Report closely covers all forms of nanoscale carbon in development on the global stage, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Here is an advance copy of a new multi-walled carbon nanotube significant new use rule being published tomorrow in the federal register. It applies only to the specific carbon nanotubes that were the subject of PMN P-08-199, and binds anyone who intends to manufacture, import, or process the specific chemical substance. It is largely consistent … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on This article originally appeared on the National Nanomanufacturing Network’s InterNano website. It is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported. In late November, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Current Intelligence Bulletin entitled "Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers." The document is not an official "agency determination or policy," and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On July 20, 2010, David Hwang of Lux Research gave a webinar entitled: "Lux Research Nanomaterials: The Rise of MWNTs: Oversupply Hides Real Opportunities." Mr. Hwang’s presentation identified the top global producers of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), explained why commercialization over the past 25 years has been relatively "anemic," and made some predictions for where … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Space, the final frontier. Captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard One of the most significant challenges facing NASA in the development of the next generation of vehicle to replace the aging Space Shuttles and carry astronauts back to the Moon and the International Space Station (and beyond) is weight. The less a vehicle weighs, the more … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Prize Winners The Foresight Institute recently announced that Dr. Oscar Custance of the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan and Professors Yoshiaki Sugimoto and Masayuki Abe of Osaka University, are the co-winners of the Feynman Prize for Experimental Work in Nanotechnology. The Feynman Prize was named after Richard Feynman and are awarded to researchers whose work … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Environmental Science And Technology recently published online an article, "Differential Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes in Drosophila: Larval Dietary Uptake is Benign, but Adult Exposure Causes Locomotor Impairment and Mortality", by Xinyuan Liu and a team of scienticists from the Chemistry, Engineering, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Departments and the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Readers may interested in learning that EPA issued a clarification today regarding its single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotube SNURs previously issued in June 2009. EPA’s announcement follows. Stay tuned . . . Good afternoon. On June 24, 2009, the U.S. EPA issued final Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In the June 24, 2009 federal register, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) under Section 5(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for multi-walled and single walled carbon nanotubes. The SNURs followed up on the EPA’s prior September 2008 consent orders entered into with Thomas Swan & … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Perhaps the most overlooked issue when examining potential nano-related environmental, health, and safety concerns is whether there is any true likelihood of exposure in reasonably foreseeable use scenarios. While there should continue to be extensive toxicity testing for certain nanoscale materials, the most interesting research (from my perspective) relates to potential workplace and/or condumer exposure … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The April issue of Environmental Health Perspectives carries a short article summarizing a seminar at the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting titled "Driving Beyond Our Nano-Headlights?". In the summary, there is a brief reference to work done by Vanesa Sanchez, a graduate student at Brown University. The results of her experiment are rather alarming. Ms. Sanchez work … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On January 22, 2009, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) sent a formal request to several California manufacturers and/or importers of carbon nanotubes seeking information regarding analytical test methods, environmental fate and transport, and other relevant environmental, health, and safety information regarding carbon nanotubes. The request was issued by DTSC under its authority granted under California’s Health and Safety … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For those who are interested, below is the abstract of our new article published in the Fall edition of Nanotechnology Law & Business. You can find the full edition here: www.nanolabweb.com A Nano-Mesothelioma False Alarm In May 2008, a scientific study (the “Poland Study”) was published in Nature Nanotechnology—which sparked a rash of popular … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today, US EPA issued a Federal Register notice stating the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) registration requirements are "potentially applicable to carbon nanotubes." EPA confirmed its position the CNTs are "chemical substances distinct from graphite or other allotropes of carbon listed on the TSCA inventory." The bottom line is stated succinctly by EPA: "Many CNTs may therefore … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Last month we reported on a press release by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. of the United Kingdom indicating the company had recently entered into a PMN consent order with the EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) concerning one of its multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) products. Barring an unusual coincidence, it appears that EPA has … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A February 2008 study published by six Stanford scientists examined the long term fate of intravenously injected carbon nanotubes in mice. The scientists’ goal was to measure the circulation of SWCNTs in the bloodstream and to determine whether they accumulate in organs and/or tissues. At the same time, the scientists also studied the effects of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on There have been a number of articles published since May 20 regarding a possible link between carbon nanotubes and the development of precursors of mesothelioma because of a recent letter published in Nature Nanotechnology. C. Poland, et al., "Carbon nanotubes introduced into the abdominal cavity of mice show asbestos-like pathology in a pilot study," Nature Nanotechnology, May 20, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Eight scientists from NIOSH and two from Lockheed Martin recently published "Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes: Geno- and Cytotoxic Effects in Lung Fibroblast V79 Cells," in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 70:2071-2079 (Dec. 15, 2007). The authors claim the study is the first published research examining the potential genotoxic effects of cellular exposure to SWCNTs. The … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For our readers who are interested, we are posting another MSDS from a producer of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. We previously discussed the issue of what information nanomanufacturers are putting in their Material Safety Data Sheets here. Plus, here is an added bonus MSDS from Cheaptubes where you can order various nanoparticles over the internet at … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Researchers from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have identified pollutants and other "substances of concern" created during the production process for carbon nanotubes. This is an important discovery given that nanotubes are thought to be the building block of the future nanotech industry.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Researchers at Rice University successfully utilized a near-infrared flourescent imaging technique to detect individual carbon nanotubes in fruit flies. The study, reported here and here, involved an experiment where the researchers fed fruit fly larvae a diet that contained carbon nanotubes. The flies were then shot with a laser, which excited the nanotubes and allowed them to be viewed using a … Continue Reading
