Nanotechnology Project

Publications

Publications

  • September 9, 2008 PEN 15 - Silver Nanotechnologies and the Environment Old Problems or New Challenges? Widespread use of nanoscale silver will challenge regulatory agencies to balance important potential benefits against the possibility of significant environmental risk, highlighting the need to identify research priorities concerning this emerging technology, according to a new report released today by the Project. Samuel N. Luoma
  • August 21, 2008 PEN 14 - The Consumer Products Safety Commission and Nanotechnology The inability of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to carry out its mandate with respect to simple, low-tech products such as children’s jewelry and toy trains bodes poorly for its ability to oversee the safety of complex, high-tech products made using nanotechnology, according to E. Marla Felcher. E. Marla Felcher
  • July 23, 2008 PEN 13 - Nanotechnology Oversight An Agenda for the Next Administration Few domestic policy areas that the new administration must address will have greater long-range consequences than nanotechnology — a new technology that has been compared with the industrial revolution in terms of its impact on society. If the right decisions are made, nanotechnology will bring vast improvements to almost every area of daily living. If the wrong decisions are made, the American economy, human health and the environment will suffer. J. Clarence (Terry) Davies
  • June 25, 2008 Assuring the Safety of Nanomaterials in Food Packaging The Regulatory Process and Key Issues Engineered nanoscale materials (ENMs), which contain novel properties that offer potential benefits for use in food packaging, raise new safety evaluation challenges for regulators and industry. The report examines the path of a number of hypothetical nanotechnology food packaging applications through the current regulatory system. Michael R. Taylor
  • May 1, 2008 How to Reduce Your Firm’s Risk and Increase Revenues Related to Nanotechnology An 8-Step Program for Small Firms With limited time and resources, how can your firm start to think about or expand on its environmental, health, and safety (EHS) practices related to the use of nanomaterials? This pamphlet presents eight suggestions to assist nano firms in addressing EHS issues associated with the production and use of nanomaterials. Deanna Lekas
  • April 24, 2008 Congressional Testimony - National Nanotechnology Initiative: Charting the Course for Reauthorization Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation-Subcommitte on Science, Technology, and Innovation New nanotechnology consumer products are coming on the market at the rate of three to four per week, a finding based on the latest update to the nanotechnology consumer product inventory. Today, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, PEN Project Director David Rejeski cited Ace Silver Plus—another of the nine nano toothpastes in the inventory—as an example of the upsurge in nanotechnology consumer products in stores. The hearing marks the start of U.S. Senate debate on the future direction of the annual $1.5 billion federal investment in nanotechnology research and development . David Rejeski
  • April 16, 2008 House Science and Technology Committee’s hearing on the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2008 Testimony of Dr. Andrew Maynard Today at the House Science and Technology Committee’s hearing on the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2008, testimony highlighted shortfalls in the current U.S. Government Strategy. According to Dr. Andrew Maynard, without clear leadership and more transparency in federal risk research investment, the emergence of safe nanotechnologies will be a happy accident, rather than a foregone conclusion. Dr. Andrew Maynard
  • April 9, 2008 PEN 11 - Room at the Bottom? Potential State and Local Strategies for Managing the Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology State and local governments often have adopted trailblazing initiatives to address environmental, health and safety concerns in advance or in lieu of federal action. With nanotechnology, an emerging field of science with unknown risks, this practice is continuing, a landmark study has found. Suellen Keiner
  • February 28, 2008 First Annual Conference on Nanotechnology Law, Regulation and Policy Keynote Address Keynote address from Michael R. Taylor at the First Annual Conference on Nanotechnology Law, Regulation and Policy. Michael R. Taylor
  • February 26, 2008 Application of the Toxics Release Inventory to Nanomaterials PEN Brief No. 2 This research brief examines whether the legal authorities that establish the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in the Emergency Planning and Community-Right to-Know Act (EPCRA) could be applied to nanomaterials. Although several organizations have published analyses of whether specific environmental laws could be used to regulate nanomaterials, none of these reviews has examined EPCRA or TRI in any detail. Linda K. Breggin and Read D. Porter