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Dissemination reports from Nanosafe2 project are designed to highlight and present in a simplified way the main results obtained in the studies carried out during this project. These reports mainly deal with one question which is of general concern for whom is interested by the safe production and use of nanomaterials. The full results are summarized in corresponding Technical reports which will be released soon.

This first report is about conventional protective devices such as fibrous filter media, respirator cartridges, protective clothing and gloves and their efficiency against nanoaerosols. Read more about it on http://www.nanosafe.org/node/907.

Where do End-of-Life Nanomaterials Go? - All materials and products eventually come to the end of their useful life, and those made with nanotechnology are no different. This means that engineered nanomaterials will ultimately enter the wast... [Azonano]

In brief, the paper that will be presented as Nanopaper of the month will, in our opinion, contribute to advanced the research or will provide crucial data to build a good database on health effects linked to the properties of the nanomaterial.

In our comments we will highlight the most important findings in this paper.

We hope that this initiative will help visitors to our website, who are not familiar with health effects research, to find good and relevant information.

Nanoparticle Risk Report Released By Swiss - The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) have published the Basis Report to the Swiss Actionplan "Risk Assessment and -management of engineered nanoparticles".... [Azonano]

Nanotechnology and Life Cycle Assessment: A Systems Approach to Nanotechnology and the Environment
(Synthesis of Results Obtained at a Workshop Washington, DC 2–3 October 2006)

http://www.nanotechproject.org/111/32007...
http://cordis.europa.eu/nanotechnology

Life cycle assessment (LCA) —a cradle-to-grave look at the health and environmental impact of a material, chemical, or product—is an essential tool for ensuring the safe, responsible, and sustainable commercialization of nanotechnology, U.S. and European experts conclude in a new report issued today.

Review of Safety Practices in the Nanotechnology Industry Phase One Report: Current Knowledge and Practices Regarding Environmental Health and Safety in the Nanotechnology Workplace. The pdf report is here.

Full news release from ETC Group

"ETC Group today renewed its 2003 call for a global moratorium on nanotech lab research and a recall of consumer products containing engineered nanoparticles.

Download the full report.

The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering report ‘Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties’, highlighted that many nanotechnologies pose no new health and safety risks and that concerns at this time relate to the potential impacts of engineered nanoparticles and nanotubes in a free rather than embedded form. The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering identified these materials as a priority area for research, and we agreed in our response to develop a programme of research aimed at reducing the uncertainties relating to toxicity and exposure pathways for nanoparticles, as well as developing instrumentation to monitor these in the workplace and the environment. Developing a proper understanding of their properties is an essential step to proportionate regulation of any risk from these and other engineered nanomaterials.

ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies, held its inaugural meeting on 9-11 November 2005 in London. Three working groups will be launched :

* WG 1, Terminology and nomenclature – convened by Canada;
* WG 2, Measurement and characterization – convened by Japan, and

Among the 20 recommandations from "Nano Jury" UK, here are two about nanoparticles :

- "All manufactured nano-particles should be labeled in plain English, classified and tested for safety as it they were a new substance."

Particle & Fibre Toxicology has published (6 october 2005) "Principles for characterizing the potential human health effects from exposure to nanomaterials: elements of a screening strategy". This 113 pages provisional report was written by 14 authors : Gunter Oberdorster, Andrew Maynard, Ken Donaldson, Vincent Castranova, Julie Fitzpatrick, Kevin Ausman, Janet Carter, Barbara Karn, Wolfgang Kreyling, David Lai, Stephen Olin, Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, David Warheit, Hong Yang.

The "Key Technologies" Expert Group has approached the future of several key technologies which are all crucial for Europe's future. These research and technology fields include nanotechnology.

Read more here.

Download the full report.

The British Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are pleased jointly to publish these proceedings from the First International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Occupational Health, which was organised by the British Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) and held under NIOSH co-sponsorship on 12-14 October 2004, in Buxton, England. The symposium represented a historic gathering of scientists and engineers from many disciplines and many countries. These proceedings, resulting from the intensive three-day meeting, offer a significant addition to the growing body of literature on this emerging field of occupational health study. This report was compiled by HSL from abstracts authored by the invited speakers and contributions made by participants at the symposium. The views and recommendations expressed in these proceedings are solely those of the authors and workshop participants in the First International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Occupational Health. Inclusion in this document does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH or HSE.