Nanosafety Newsletter n°65 (July 30, 2012)


News & Reports

STOA report: NanoSafety - Risk Governance of Manufactured Nanoparticles

The Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) unit of the European Parliament has released a new report "NanoSafety - Risk Governance of Manufactured Nanoparticles" which deals with the potential environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENM). Because of the great uncertainties regarding their actual health and environmental effects and numerous methodological challenges to established risk assessment procedures (...), risk management of ENM is confronted with serious challenges. (...) Regulation under uncertainty raises fundamental political questions of how lawmakers should regulate risk in the face of such uncertainty. To explore this issue in greater detail, the project [carried out by the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology together with the Institute of Technology Assessment] focused on two important perspectives of regulation: Risk management strategies for ENM as discussed or proposed for the EU or its Member States, and risk communication problems and needs for EHS risks of ENM. Findings of the project were discussed with MEPs in several workshops. In addition, the project used also a participatory method in order to investigate the risk communication expectations of the general public.

@ European Parliament

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Food additives: EFSA's new guidance for applicants

New guidance for the submission of food additive applications, reflecting advances in science and the latest risk assessment principles, has been developed on the initiative of scientific experts from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)’s Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS). The guidance adopted by the ANS Panel in June 2012 [pdf] replaces guidance originally established in 2001 [pdf] by the EC’s former Scientific Committee on Food. Among changes, the new guidance provides specific recommendations for nanomaterials.

@ EFSA

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FDA Bill Signed by President Includes Nanotechnology Provision

On July 9, 2012, President Barack Obama signed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (P.L. 112-144). The Act authorizes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect user fees from industry to fund reviews of innovator drugs, medical devices, generic drugs, and biosimilar biologics. It also includes a section concerning nanotechnology, directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “intensify and expand activities related to enhancing scientific knowledge regarding nanomaterials included or intended for inclusion in products regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act” or other statutes administered by FDA...

@ NanotechLawBlog

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New Zealand introduces nano labelling for cosmetics

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) [of New Zealand] has approved amendments to the Cosmetic Products Group Standard. Group standards are approvals for a group of hazardous substances of a similar nature, type or use and this group standard is closely based on European Union (EU) legislation. (...) The amendments include aligning the definitions of some cosmetic products with EU legislation and requiring manufacturers to provide batch and source code information on cosmetic labels, helpful for identifying products subject to a recall. (...) Another amendment means from 1 July 2015, the presence of nanomaterials in cosmetic products available in New Zealand must be identified on labelling...

@ EPA

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Events & Announcements

7th International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials

The Office of Environmental NanoSafety will host the 7th international conference on the environmental effects of nanoparticles and nanomaterials on September 10-12, 2012. The event will bring together representatives of various levels of academia, industry, and government. The venue is the BanffCentre in the Banff National Park, in Alberta, Canada. The themes of the conference are:
- Chemical and Physical Characterization
- Fate, Behaviour And Geochemistry
- Detection, Measurement and Assay
- Toxicology of Microbes, Plants and Animals
- Risk Assessment, Life Cycle Analysis and OH&S
- Regulation, Legislation, Policy and Perception
 
For more information, click here

@ OENS

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NanotechITALY2012

NanotechITALY 2012 will take place in Venice from 21 to 23 November 2012. Nanotechnologies, in connection with the other EU Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), are recognized as the drivers to address the challenges indicated by Horizon 2020 and also by the Italian National Research Programme. The three day event, organized by AIRI/Nanotec IT, Veneto Nanotech, the National Research Council (CNR) and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), will highlight how nanotechnologies can contribute to answer these challenges and promote competitiveness and responsible innovation in a variety of strategic sectors that will shape future growth. On the 23rd November 2012, an all day long session will be dedicated to safety, ethics and societal impacts of nanotechnologies including risk management; nanotoxicology; regulation & standards, ethical and societal issues...

An overview of the programme is available here

@ NanotechITALY

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Sixth meeting of the European Observatory on Nanosafety

The 6th meeting of the European Observatory on NanoSafety (EONS) was held in Paris on May 24, 2012. Organized by the Observatoire des Micro et NanoTechnologies (OMNT), this series of meetings is an initiative launched within the ENPRA consortium. Involving a panel of experts including ENPRA partners and French experts from the OMNT, the EONS meetings provide participants with the opportunity to collectively discussed and comment the latest trends and research progress in the field of nanotechnology environmental health and safety. The proceedings of the meeting are summarized in the 6th EONS report and are available on this link.

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Lastest ENPRA Newsletter now available

The sixth newsletter of the FP7 project "Risk Assessment of Engineered NanoParticles" (ENPRA) has been released. This issue provides a summary of the latest ENPRA activities & events and a selection of upcoming 'nanosafety' events.
Click here to download the newsletter.

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Articles & Reviews

Risk management strategy to increase the safety of workers in the nanomaterials industry

In recent years, many engineered nanomaterials (NMs) have been produced, but increasing research has revealed that these may have toxicities far greater than conventional materials and cause significant adverse health effects. At present, there is insufficient data to determine the permissible concentrations of NMs in the workplace. There is also a lack of toxicity data and environmental monitoring results relating to complete health risk assessment. In view of this, we believe that workers in the NMs industry should be provided with simple and practical risk management strategy to ensure occupational health and safety. In this study, we developed a risk management strategy based on the precautionary risk management (PRM). (...) Here we report the first case in which a simple and practical risk management strategy applying in specific engineered NMs manufacturing plants. We are confident that our risk management strategy can be effectively reduced engineered NM industries risks for workers.
From MP Ling, WC Lin, CC Liu et al.- Journal of Hazardous Materials (2012) 229-230: 83-93

@ Science Direct

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Analysis of the occupational, consumer and environmental exposure to engineered nanomaterials used in ten technology sectors

Humans and the environment can come into contact with nanomaterials through a wide range of applications during all stages of the life cycle of nano-products. The aim of this commentary is to present an assessment of the potential for exposure and thus identify possible environmental, health and safety (EHS) issues for nanomaterials used in ten technology sectors. We analysed all life cycle stages with regard to potential for exposure of workers, consumers/patients, and the environment. A wide variety of nanomaterials are used of which many have negligible potential for exposure, while other have medium or even high potential for exposure. Based on the likelihood of exposure, it appears that in general most attention should be paid to the agrifood, chemistry/materials, textiles and health sectors; and less to the information and communication technology (ICT), security and energy sectors. Toxicity and exposure are both important, however, the EHS impact of nanomaterials is always dependent on their particular use.
From B Nowack, C Brouwer,  RE Geertsma et al. - Nanotoxicology (2012) Just Accepted Article

@ InformaHealthCare

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Release of Titanium Dioxide from Textiles during Washing

Nano-TiO2 has the highest production of all nanomaterials, and pigment-TiO2 is a commodity used on the million tons/year scale. Information on the release of TiO2 from consumer products is therefore an important part of analyzing the potential environmental exposure to TiO2. For this study, we investigated the release of TiO2 from six different functional textiles during washing. TiO2 is used in textiles because of its UV-absorbing properties and as pigment. Analysis of fiber cross sections showed that the TiO2 was contained in the fiber matrix. (...) The results indicate that functional textiles release some TiO2 particles, but that the amounts are relatively low and mostly not in the nanoparticulate range.
From L Windler, C Lorenz, N von Goetz et al. - Environmental Science and Technology (2012) Article ASAP

@ ACS Publications

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Detection of nanomaterials in food and consumer products: bridging the gap from legislation to enforcement

This paper describes the requirements and resulting challenges for the implementation of current and upcoming European Union legislation referring to the use of nanomaterials in food, cosmetics and other consumer products. The European Commission has recently adopted a recommendation for the definition of nanomaterials. There is now an urgent need for appropriate and fit-for-purpose analytical methods in order to identify nanomaterials properly according to this definition and to assess whether or not a product contains nanomaterials. Considering the lack of such methods to date, this paper elaborates on the challenges of the legislative framework and the type of methods needed, not only to facilitate implementation of labelling requirements, but also to ensure the safety of products coming to the market. (...) Furthermore, there is an urgent need for quality assurance tools such as validated methods and (certified) reference materials, including materials containing nanoparticles in a realistic matrix (food products, cosmetics, etc.).
From H Stamm, N Gibson and E Anklam - Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A: Chemistry, Analysis, Control, Exposure & Risk Assessment (2012) 29(8): 1175-1182

@ Taylor & Francis

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Aging of photocatalytic coatings under a water flow: Long run performance and TiO2 nanoparticles release

Although photocatalytic coatings may experience severe wearing in most of their application, little work has been done to investigate their aging in a comprehensive way. In this article, we present an original experimental protocol to simulate an accelerated aging of photocatalytic coatings under a water flow, and test it on two materials: a well-known commercial product, Pilkington Activ™, and an experimental coating. The influence of intrinsic properties of the coatings (chemical nature, thickness) as well as environmental parameters (water matrix, UV-light) is investigated while the consequences of aging are evaluated (...). These results suggest that the use of photocatalytic coatings with surface-bound nanoparticles in environmental applications may entail new entries of nanomaterials into the aqueous medium. They also prove that aging assays are an effective way of assessing the emissions.
From J Olabarrieta, S Zorita, I Pena et al.- Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2012) 123-124 : 182-192
 
Related article: "A Tecnalia study reveals the loss of nanomaterials in surface treatments caused by water" @ BasqueResearch

@ Science Direct

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An in vitro liver model - assessing oxidative stress and genotoxicity following exposure of hepatocytes...

... to a panel of engineered nanomaterials

Following exposure via inhalation, intratracheal instillation or ingestion some nanomaterials (NM) have been shown to translocate to the liver. Since oxidative stress has been implicated as a possible mechanism for NM toxicity this study aimed to investigate the effects of various materials (five titanium dioxide (TiO2), two zinc oxide (ZnO), two multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and one silver (Ag) NM) on oxidative responses of C3A cell line as a model for potential detrimental properties of nanomaterials on the liver. (...)  All ten NMs exhibited effects on the hepatocyte cell line that were at least in part ROS/oxidative stress mediated. These effects included mild genotoxicity and IL8 production for all NM except the Ag possibly due to its highly cytotoxic nature.
From A Kermanizadeh, BK Gaiser, GR Hutchison and V Stone – Particle and fibre toxicology (2012) 9:28

@ P&FT

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Chief editor: Sébastien Berger; Managing Editor: Aïcha Gharbi