Nanotechnology

Strategic Plan for NIOSH Nanotechnology Research: Filling the Knowledge Gaps

Appendix E. Research Partnerships and Collaborations

The NIOSH NTRC has established several national and international partnerships and collaborations to advance understanding of occupational safety and health for nanotechnology workers. The NIOSH NTRC participates in the National Nanotechnology initiative (NNI) and has contributed to the nanotechnology strategic plan for the Nation through the working group of nanotechnology Environmental and health Implications (NEHI). Occupational Safety and Health has been a major priority of the NEHI effort and NIOSH’s strategic research plan and activities are addressing most of the major issues in the NEHI plan.

The following are some of the ongoing NTRC partnerships and collaborations in nanotechnology research:

• Collaboration with the University of Rochester about the ability of nanoparticles to generate radical species.
  
  
• Oak Ridge Laboratory to evaluate the pulmonary toxicity of nanoparticles.
  
  
• University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa on measurement of airborne levels of ultrafine particles.
  
  
• Industrial hygiene, occupational health, and industrial partners at the University of Nevada at Reno and Altairnano, Reno, Nevada on understanding and improving the control of ultrafine metal oxides and engineered nanomaterials.
  
  
• Industrial hygiene, occupational health, and industrial partners at Virginia Tech and Luna Nanoworks on understanding and improving the control of fullerines and other engineered nanoparticles.
  
  
• Industrial hygiene, occupational health, and industrial partners at Quantum Sphere on understanding and improving the control of nanoscale metals and metal oxides.
  
  
• Industrial hygiene, occupational health, and industrial partners at QD Vision on understanding and improving the control of quantum dots.
  
  
• Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences on software modifications for use in lung dosimetry modeling.
  
  
• Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, Scotland, on revising rat lung dosimetry models to account for particle size-specific clearance and retention.
  
  
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/ National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense on nanotoxicology.
  
  
• NanoMech LLC (Fayetteville, Arkansas) to collaborate on a proposed EPA Phase I SBIR project related to containment of airborne nanoparticles.
  
  
• International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) on the respirator filter media work being conducted at the University of Minnesota to assess the filtration efficiency against nanoparticles.
  
  
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration to evaluate the toxicity of single walled carbon nanotubes.
  
  
• University of Pittsburgh on the toxicity of nanomaterials.
  
  
• Dupont and the Nanoparticle Occupational Safety and Health (NOSH) industry consortium on issues related to the measurement of nanoparticles and the efficiency of filtration materials for engineered nanoparticles.
  
  
• Mitsui Co. Inc. on evaluating the bioactivity of MWCNT.
  
  
• NASA on evaluating the toxicity of SWCNT.
  
  
• IBM on evaluating the bioactivity of silicon nanowires.
  
  
• West Virginia University Nanotechnology Center on evaluating the toxicity of metal oxide nanowires.
  
  
• Karolinska Institute on evaluating the effect of nanomaterials on immune cells.
  
  
• University of Montana on evaluating the toxicity of nanowires.
  
  
• NIST on evaluating the toxicity of nanoparticles.
  
  
• West Virginia University Medical School on evaluating the effects of pulmonary exposure to nano TiO₂ on systemic microvascular function.

Strategic Plan for NIOSH Nanotechnology Research:
Appendix D	Appendix F
Page last modified: March 4, 2008 Page last reviewed: March 4, 2008 Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)