Nanotech

Study: Some Nanotubes
Do Promote Cancer

by | Mar 15, 2013 8:18 am | Comments (0)

Linda Sargent/NIOSH Photo

A mouse lung with alveolar bronchiolar carcinoma.

Early findings show tubes can increase the risk of cancer in mice exposed to a known carcinogen.” Gwyneth K. Shaw reports. 

Time To Skip The Doughnuts?

by | Feb 6, 2013 11:16 am | Comments (0)

Advocacy group finds titanium dioxide nanoparticles in snack food, presses for better info from manufacturers & government. Gwyneth K. Shaw reports.

Acidity Affects Nanosilver Release

by | Oct 18, 2012 8:00 pm | Comments (0)

Different pH, different response in a study that could make understanding environmental impacts trickier. Gwyneth K. Shaw reports.

Cutting Foam May Expose
Workers To Hazards

by | Oct 12, 2012 5:00 am | Comments (0)

New study finds that hot-wire slicing of polystyrene foam frees nanoparticles — loaded with a toxic chemical. Gwyneth K. Shaw reports.

European Commission: No New Nano Laws—For Now

by | Oct 4, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

Report recommends relying on European Union’s chemical safety law, and looking at nanoparticles on a case-by-case basis. Gwyneth K. Shaw reports.

Super-Small
Plastic Hurts Mussels

by | Sep 28, 2012 8:00 am | Comments (0)

Toxicology & Chemistry Photo

A blue mussel after exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles.

New study wonders: What’s the implication for other marine life? Gwyneth K. Shaw reports.

Chemical Safety Law Advances

by | Jul 25, 2012 11:00 am | Comments (0)

(NHI Nanoblog) Democrats in the U.S. Senate are forging ahead with efforts to break a decades-old logjam and reshape the federal law governing toxic chemicals.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday approved an amended version of the Safe Chemicals Act, which would revamp a 1976 law, the Toxic Substances Control Act. The new bill, based on legislation pushed for several years by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, would shift much of the burden of assuring the safety of chemicals from the Environmental Protection Agency to manufacturers.

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“Paralysis” On Nanosilver?

by | Jul 6, 2012 12:55 am | Comments (0)

(NHI Nanoblog) Amid the latest in a long list of scientific reviews of the potential problems posed to people, animals and the environment by super-small silver particles, two Danish researchers say it’s time to stop pondering — and start regulating.

In a sharply-worded commentary recently published online by the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology, Steffen Foss Hansen and Anders Baun make a simple point about what’s typically pitched as a complicated question about whether nanosilver should be controlled by new laws in Europe.

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Congress To FDA:
Study Nano Safety

by | Jun 27, 2012 11:55 am | Comments (0)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will soon have a new nanotechnology safety program, thanks to language tucked into a massive legislative package that’s on its way to President Obama.

U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, both Democrats, pushed for the program to be added during Senate debate last month. The revamped bill cleared the House last week and passed the Senate, 92 to 4, on Tuesday. Obama is expected to sign it.

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Study Nano Safety’

Safety First?

by | Jun 21, 2012 2:58 pm | Comments (0)

GAO

A new audit says federal government is spending more on research exploring the potential environmental, health and safety implications of ultra-tiny materials, but needs to track projects better and offer clearer goals for how to best answer the main questions about these substances and their use in a wide variety of products.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) did the audit, tracking spending by seven of the 26 agencies involved in the National Nanotechnology Initiative between 2006 and 2010. (Click here to read it.)

The GAO found that funding earmarked for environment, health and safety, or EHS, research more than doubled over that time, from $38 million to $90 million. But auditors raised questions about the numbers, and the impact those dollars are having.

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Real Products, Different Results

by | Jun 15, 2012 10:36 am | Comments (0)

(NHI Nanoblog) It’s become a rallying cry for some researchers who are scrutinizing the potential health and environmental effects of super-small particles: Test the products that use nanomaterials, not just the substances themselves.

A new study looking at the exposure risk of nano-enabled cosmetic powders offers a powerful validation of that argument. The researchers conclude that the hazards are different from what might be expected, given the size of the particles involved.

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Heavy-Metal Quantum Dots

by | Jun 12, 2012 10:01 am | Comments (1)

University at Buffalo Photo

Cadmium-selenium quantum dots in solution, glowing orange in ultraviolet light.

(NHI Nanoblog) Glowing, ultra-tiny particles known as quantum dots excite researchers and industry for a good reason: They may be groundbreaking for a wide variety of products, from medical sensors to televisions.

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Watch That Sunscreen!

by | May 25, 2012 12:00 pm | Comments (1)

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo

Sunscreens with super-small versions of physical sunblockers are often labeled as “natural.”

With sunscreen season approaching, new questions have emerged about the safety of ultra-tiny particles that are becoming a common ingredient.

But barring hard evidence of danger, experts — including scientists studying sunscreen safety — have the same advice this summer: Don’t let fear stop you from protecting yourself.

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How Long Have We Been Eating Nanoparticles?

by | May 16, 2012 12:30 pm | Comments (1)

Scientific Reports Photo

Commercial bread, jaggery (a type of raw sugar) and white sugar, with dispersions of carbon nanoparticles in white and UV light.

(NHI Nanoblog) Consumer and health advocates have consistently raised questions about the potential addition of ultra-tiny materials to boost the flavor, texture or freshness of food. But what if nanoparticles are already in what we’re eating?

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Silicon Forest Offers Clues

by | May 14, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (0)

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State University Business Accelerator sits in a nondescript, brick and cement block building hard up against Interstate 5. There’s a view of the nearby Willamette River, but the foreground is all cars and city trappings.

The point of this stripped-down center isn’t the aesthetics. Its appeal lies in the pricetag. In this spot, start-up companies are able to slip into laboratory space on the cheap, and access business and technical advice, too.

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The Challenge: Boost
Nano, Create Jobs

by | May 9, 2012 11:58 am | Comments (0)

NNI Image

PORTLAND, Ore. — How do you marry the drive for innovation to the need for new — and well-paid — jobs?

A phalanx of federal officials who work on research, development and policy involving super-small materials came to the City of Roses last week to ponder that question. They were joined by people from all over the country — Utah, Oklahoma and Arizona were just a few of the home addresses — who are in the economic development and education trenches.

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Nano, Create Jobs’

“Do Good Science”

by | Apr 30, 2012 3:26 pm | Comments (0)

NIST Photo

With ultra-tiny silver particles turning up in everything from toothpaste to plastic food containers, researchers are eager to understand any potential impacts on people, animals or the environment. But can they get there when the substance itself is so dynamic?

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