by | Dec 1, 2011 6:02 pm | Comments (0)
More than a year after floating the idea, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted the first approval for a pesticide that’s based on a nanoscale material — a Swiss-made antimicrobial nanosilver product used in fabrics.
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‘EPA Grants First-Ever
Approval For Nanopesticide’
by | Nov 30, 2011 5:59 pm | Comments (1)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
(NHI Nanoblog) Want the latest on Kim Kardashian’s divorce? Take your pick of hundreds, if not thousands, of stories.
But when it comes to super-small newfangled materials popping up in countless new products — and the emerging questions about their health and environmental impacts — digging up news is a lot harder.
by | Nov 24, 2011 11:41 am | Comments (0)
When lawmakers wrote the Clean Water Act in 1972, pollution was essentially defined as coming out of a pipe and into a waterway. Nearly 30 years later, that’s still the rule — while fertilizer-laden runoff and other obvious sources of toxins are dealt with differently.
If that kind of seemingly obvious change hasn’t been made to U.S. laws, what hope is there for catching up to safety questions about emerging technologies, from nanotechnology to geoengineering?
by | Nov 21, 2011 3:08 pm | Comments (2)
U.N. FAO Photo
(NHI Nanoblog) Super-small zinc oxide is in sunscreen, boat paint and other products that end up in rivers, oceans and the public water supply. What do these minuscule particles mean for marine life — and what might that tell us about effects up the food chain?
by | Nov 16, 2011 12:00 pm | Comments (0)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
(NHI Nanoblog) TEMPE, Ariz. — As nanotechnology moves (slowly) from the laboratory to the factory, workers are on the front lines — though you wouldn’t know that from the shop floor.
Like new technologies from the printing press to the Internet, nano is touted as a way to make products work better, potentially reshaping the employment landscape.
And, like prior scientific and chemical breakthroughs, nanotechnology may bear some risk for workers. Already, ultra-tiny substances like carbon nanotubes and nano-sized titanium dioxide have drawn the attention of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which has moved to recommend limits for occupational exposure.
by | Nov 10, 2011 3:03 pm | Comments (3)
Nanowell
Tempe, Ariz.—With nanosilver popping up as an antibacterial agent in everything from food storage containers to workout clothes, Kathleen Eggleson worries about neutralizing another bullet in the gun firing at bad germs.
by | Nov 9, 2011 12:03 pm | Comments (1)
Provided Photo
Jaime Grunlan (right) in his laboratory.
Inside a laboratory in College Station, Tex., Jaime Grunlan and his students are building a new way to keep food fresh, brick by super-tiny brick.
Using clay and biodegradable, food-safe polymers, they’re making what are effectively walls on an atomic scale.
by | Nov 7, 2011 12:13 pm | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) The New York Times’ Dylan Walsh asks a great question: Is anyone thinking about the potential downsides to the growing field of “wired” textiles? Not really, apparently.
by | Nov 4, 2011 10:54 am | Comments (1)
Photl.com
Wondering whether your anti-stink workout clothes are sending nanosilver into the environment?
Turns out that you should take a look at other silver objects you might be wearing or using as a potential source for sloughing off ultra-tiny bits, too.
A new study showing that large-scale silver objects can essentially shed nanoparticles is further complicating an already dizzying discussion over the potential hazards of nanotechnology — leaving scientists and regulators staring at big, hard questions.
by | Oct 28, 2011 12:08 pm | Comments (0)
National Nanotechnology Initiative
(NHI Nanoblog) The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has released its latest blueprint for fostering the safe development of nanotechnology, giving fresh emphasis to the idea of studying a product or application from birth to death.
by | Oct 25, 2011 3:18 pm | Comments (0)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Christine Broadbridge, Todd Schwendemann and Louise Grober test-drive the new machine.
A new $400,000 instrument has landed in Southern Connecticut State University’s physics lab, the latest and most advanced piece of an effort to teach students about nanotechnology — and train them to do their own hands-on research.
by | Oct 21, 2011 8:41 am | Comments (0)
Chantecaille Photo
As nanomaterials become more common, the cosmetics aisle is at the forefront of new nano-infused consumer products. Sunscreens, wrinkle-fighters and even lip plumpers are using these super-small particles to attract customers.
A new study shows dermatologists — and their clients — aren’t yet up to speed when it comes to understanding what’s in those creams, lotions and treatments.
by | Oct 4, 2011 11:12 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) An environmental advocacy group is again taking aim at the growing use of nanosilver as an antimicrobial agent, accusing the U.S. government of failing to protect consumers.
In a new report, Friends of the Earth traces the growth of nanosilver products — ranging from sweat socks to hair dryers—and says the use of super-small silver particles to fight bacteria could cause long-term problems. The group echoes criticisms of other antibacterial chemicals, which have become more and more prevalent in a germ-phobic society.
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‘Report Scores Lack
Of Nanosilver Regulation’
by | Sep 26, 2011 8:30 am | Comments (1)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Adam Finkel, executive director of the Penn Program on Regulation, and Risk Science Center head Andrew Maynard.
Congressional Republicans are waging war against the Environmental Protection Agency. The Food and Drug Administration is also under fire. Climate change and vaccines are the subjects of fierce debates that emphasize politics, not science.
At the same time, the mistakes of the past — from Thalidomide to asbestos — have left the public skeptical of new pronouncements.
In this politically charged environment, people want the straight dope about new scientific advances, from genetically-modified foods to nanotechnology.
But how do you reach them?
by | Sep 22, 2011 8:59 am | Comments (0)
SouthWest NanoTechnologies
(NHI Nanoblog) SouthWest NanoTechnologies, Inc., now has full U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approval to both make and sell multi-walled carbon nanotubes, according to a company press release.
by | Sep 16, 2011 5:25 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) So, “The Fracking Song” it’s not. But as music about nanotechnology goes, “Nano Techno” is a nice two-minute diversion.
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‘It's Microscopic -- &
You Can Dance To It’
by | Sep 14, 2011 1:49 pm | Comments (5)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
A grant from the National Science Foundation will extend and expand a partnership between Yale and Southern Connecticut State University to study newfangled materials — and explain them to New Haven teachers and students.
The $13.9 million grant, announced late last week, cements Yale as the host of only a handful of these types of centers for materials science. It also offers an opportunity for Southern, which is building its science and math programs, to establish itself as the go-to spot for students interested in emerging technologies.
by | Sep 9, 2011 2:11 pm | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) As super-small particles and materials become increasingly common in manufacturing, how are companies dealing with the potential to expose their workers to invisible hazards?
A group of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara decided to find out. They did a survey of international companies, discovering that the workplace safety picture isn’t yet fully formed.
Continue reading ‘Survey Shows Confusion On Protecting Nano Workers’
by | Aug 26, 2011 8:20 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) In a recent story, The New York Times’ Andrew Martin described the developing controversy over the safety of triclosan, which is the chemical backbone of scores of antibacterial consumer products. The debate — over a substance that’s been used for decades — raises questions about the safety of more than just this one ingredient.
Continue reading ‘Hand Soap And The FDA: Do The Questions Run Deeper?’
by | Aug 25, 2011 12:23 pm | Comments (0)
Andrew Maynard
In looking toward the future of nanotechnology safety research, Andrew Maynard first took a step back in time — seven years, to be exact.
It was 2004, and a globe-spanning group of scientists and policymakers were gathered in Buxton, England. The meeting produced a thick report, including 69 recommendations aimed at promoting responsible development of nanotechnology, which leverages super-small particles to do often amazing things.
by | Aug 22, 2011 12:03 pm | Comments (0)
John Good/ NPS Photo
(NHI Nanoblog) As the federal government struggles with how to regulate super-small materials in consumer products, it may find some inspiration in a Massachusetts law with the acronym “TURA.”
by | Aug 18, 2011 1:10 pm | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) Here’s what researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell don’t want you to conclude about their ongoing research on copiers and printers: These linchpins of the modern office throw off nanoparticles, and therefore they’re dangerous.
That’s an easy conclusion to draw from field and lab work that shows elevated levels of super-small particles from copiers, and an inflammatory effect on nasal tissue from a six-hour exposure. But, as is the case with a lot of with safety research on nanotechnology, it’s not that simple.
by | Aug 16, 2011 11:09 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) One of the biggest challenges facing scientists, academics and policymakers exploring the pros and cons of manmade ultra-small particles is explaining to the general public what’s potentially dangerous — and what’s not. Steffen Foss Hansen has come up with a simple idea: Turn a complex risk-assessment matrix into a series of dots that suggest green for safety, yellow for caution, red for avoidance and gray for the unknown.
by | Aug 15, 2011 11:33 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) BOSTON — So there are carbon nanotubes in your cellphone. Not a big deal for you, since the super-small, ultralight cylinders are safely ensconced inside. But what happens to them when you toss away that old handset?
Jacqueline A. Isaacs, a professor at Northeastern University and the associate director of the Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing, is working on ways to predict it. It’s part of a larger effort to look at the full life cycle of a nano-product, as researchers, manufacturers and regulators grapple with the potentially large risks from these small substances.
by | Jul 18, 2011 10:32 am | Comments (0)
(NHI Nanoblog) Recent moves inside the U.S. government have unsettled some in the nascent nanotechnology industry. But Scott E. Rickert, CEO of Nanofilm, Inc., an Ohio-based coatings company, writes in Industry Week that the “nano-boogieman” isn’t lurking in the shadows.