Nanotechnology Project

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Agriculture and Food

  • events/archive January 14, 2009 Nanotech and Your Daily Vitamins Historically, the regulation of dietary supplements has been a significant challenge for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the fact that some of these products are now being manufactured using nanotechnology creates an additional layer of complexity. Is FDA equipped to meet the emerging regulatory challenge of dietary supplements that use engineered nanomaterials?
  • news/archive December 18, 2008 Experts Argue Nano Food-Additives Require New Oversight Nanotechnology policy experts are urging that food additives containing nanoscale materials be subject to new safety testing to ensure that their use does not pose unintended risks. The call comes as nanotechnology emerges as a major regulatory challenge facing the incoming Obama administration.
  • news/archive October 14, 2008 The Frontiers of Nanotechnology The future of how the world communicates, and how we power our lives, will likely come from the same source: nanotechnology. According to the latest NanoFrontiers newsletter and Trips to the Nanofrontier podcast, nanotechnology will be central to developing and using new electronics and energy technologies in the 21st Century. audio
  • publications/archive September 9, 2008 PEN 15 - Silver Nanotechnologies and the Environment 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.
  • news/archive September 9, 2008 Nanoscale Silver: No Silver Lining? 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 by Dr. Samuel Luoma. Existing information about the impact of silver on the environment offers a starting point for some assessments of nanosilver, the report argues.
  • news/archive September 8, 2008 Nanotechnology and the FDA: Size Matters! In July 2007 the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued its Nanotechnology Task Force Report. This report acknowledged that nanoscale materials potentially could be used in most product types regulated by the agency and that those materials present challenges complicated by the fact that properties relevant to product safety and effectiveness may change as size varies within the nanoscale.
  • publications/archive July 23, 2008 PEN 13 - Nanotechnology Oversight 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.
  • events/archive July 23, 2008 Nanotechnology and Oversight: An Agenda for the New 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.
  • news/archive July 23, 2008 Nanotech: A Regulatory Blueprint for the Next Administration Nanotechnology will significantly change virtually every facet of the way we live. The next president has the opportunity to shape these changes and to ensure that nanotechnology’s benefits will be maximized and its risks identified and controlled. A new report by former EPA official J. Clarence (Terry) Davies lays out a clear roadmap for the next presidential administration and describes the immediate and longer term steps necessary to deal with the current shortcomings of nanotechnology oversight. video
  • publications/archive June 25, 2008 Assuring the Safety of Nanomaterials in Food Packaging 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.
  • news/archive June 25, 2008 Use of Nanomaterials in Food Packaging Poses Regulatory Challenges 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, according to a report released today by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).
  • publications/archive May 1, 2008 How to Reduce Your Firm’s Risk and Increase Revenues Related to Nanotechnology 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.
  • publications/archive April 24, 2008 Congressional Testimony - National Nanotechnology Initiative: Charting the Course for Reauthorization 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 .
  • news/archive April 24, 2008 New Nanotech Products Hitting the Market at the Rate of 3-4 Per Week 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 maintained by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN). The number of consumer products using nanotechnology has grown from 212 to 609 since PEN launched the world’s first online inventory of manufacturer-identified nanotech goods in March 2006.