By Porter Wright on We have previously reported on a study by Arizona State researchers looking into the potential release of nanosilver particles from odor-killing socks during theoretical wash cycles. A new study from Switzerland examines the issue in further detail. L. Geranio, et al., "The Behavior of Silver Nanotextiles during Washing," Environ. Sci. Technol. (Sept. 2009). Three authors from the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Nanotechnology Law & Business just published our new article on the EPA’s recent treatment of nanoscale materials under the Toxic Substances Control Act. An abstract for the article is below and you can find a copy of the article itself here. Abstract: This article provides a summary of recent (2008-2009) regulatory efforts by the U.S. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Our friends at AZoNano (www.AZoNano.com) recently sent us this full page, color, sunscreen advertisement from the September 16, 2009 Weekend Australian Magazine. The sunscreen in question, called "Invisible Zinc," claims to use an invisible film of zinc oxide to provide UVA and UVB skin protection to its users. Our readers will quickly note the prominent disclaimer … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on There are often developments in the nano legal world that do not fit into our traditional Nanotechnology Law Report format, yet might be of interest to some of our readers. You can now find these short postings and other musings on twitter.com/nanolaw . Additionally, you can find me on linkedin under "John Monica," as well as on our new … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A much valued contributor from CyberRegs provided us with the following information from the Federal Register that may be of interest to readers: There will be a 4-day consultation meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to consider and review a set of scientific issues related to the assessment … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For anyone interested, I am presenting my recently approved Virginia CLE presentation "Insurance, Nanotechnology, and Risk" in mid-September to a national intellectual property law firm based here in D.C. The presentation covers issues related to the alleged environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risks accompanying certain nanoscale materials from the perspective of both the insured and insurer. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Earlier today, the Guardian printed a letter from the Soil Association criticizing the paper’s nanotechnology supplement appearing last Thursday. The letter cites the Song study from China as more evidence supporting its call for a moratorium on nanoscale materials along with "nano-free" standards, which we have previously covered. Key statements from the letter follow: "Seven women working … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For anyone who might be interested, I will be speaking on nano-related insurance issues at the opening plenary of the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s upcoming Oct. 6 -7 conference and workshop on Nanomaterials and the Environment & Instrumentation. The draft agenda for the conference can be found here, and the plenary is also supposed to be broadcast … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Last Friday, EPA’s Office of Research and Development announced in the Federal Register a 45 day comment period for its new draft case study on the use of nanoscale TiO2 in water and sunscreens: "Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment and in Topical Sunscreen" FR 74,146 at 38188 (July 31, 2009). The report … 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 Zurich North America recently published the June 2009 edition of its Industry Insight online magazine which focuses exclusively on nanotechnology issues. The magazine contains four informative articles which are well worth reading: "At the leading edge: Zurich’s thought leadership on nanotechnology;" "No small thing: The enormous potential of nano;" "The kings of small things: The regulatory … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Here is the Summer 2009 edition of Nanotechnology Law Report. The newsletter contains the below-listed articles (and more): EPA Issues Significant New Use Rules for Carbon Nanotubes Are Nanoparticles Released by Cutting or Compounding Nano-Composites? Annual Nano TiO2 Production Estimated at 44,000 Metric Tons Are Nano Consumer Products Headed Underground? Oversight of Next Generation Nanotechnology … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Chubb Insurance is hosting a one-day nanotechnology insurance conference on October 13, 2009 in North Branch, New Jersey: "Nanotechnology: What is the Best Safety and Risk Management Approach?" From the conference website: "This conference brings together prominent nanotechnology speakers who will review nanotechnology background, health and safety, and potential insurance and liability issues. Current risk … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Nanotechnology Law & Business just published its new edition. For those who might be interested, Volume 6.2 contains an article I co-authored with several nano-friends entitled: "Nano Risk Governance: Current Developments and Future Perspectives." You can find the article here. An abstract follows. As with many new technologies, developing a framework for making risk management … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on "Nanotechnology Law" by John Monica was just published this week by West/Thomson/Reuters, the world’s leading legal publisher. The book is the first comprehensive legal text on nanotechnology and weighs in at a healthy 900 pages. The table of contents is here. The book is divided into ten informative chapters: Nanotechnology Introduction National Nanotechnology Initiative and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Chemical Business NewsBase recently published an article comparing global private funding to government funding for nanotechnology research, development, and commercialization. The article cites Lux Research figures indicating that private funding for nanotechnology reached $9.6 billion in 2008, while government investment was $8.6 billion. According to the article, this was the first year that private spending … 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 Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) claims to represents 20 investment organizations with $22 billion under management that are seeking to ensure that the companies they invest in are taking appropriate steps to reduce risks associated with the toxic chemicals used in their products. IEHN’s ultimate objective is to use "public policy work regarding investor … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Inside U.S. Trade reports three interesting nano-regulatory developments: (i) the "EPA has signaled that it may soon decide to regulate nano-silver as a pesticide under " FIFRA; (ii) the "EPA may rule favorably on some points" raised in the 2008 citizen’s petition filed by 14 advocacy groups seeking more restrictive regulation of nanoscale silver; and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on EurActiv.com (EU News, Policy Positions, and EU Actions on line) published an article on June 15, 2009 entitled "Nanotech claims ‘dropped’ for fear of consumer recoil." The article reported on a nanotechnology conference which took place in Brussels during the week of June 10 at which a scientist from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Mark your calendar for the one-day conference “NanoBiotech 2009” set for October 19, 2009 which is being co-sponsored by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) and Bawa Biotechnology Consulting LLC (Ashburn, VA). This is the sixth in a series of international conferences they have conducted dating back to 2003 on the converging areas of nanotechnology and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The April issue of Environmental Health Perspectives carried an interesting article by Charles W. Schmidt, "Nanotechnology Related Environment, Health, and Safety Research: Examining the National Strategy". The article looks at what could be a disturbing development, that Experts in nanotoxicity and risk assessment have become increasingly polarized, represented on one side by the National Research Council (NRC) and … Continue Reading
