Nanotechnology on the NIOSH Science BlogNIOSH recently co-sponsored a workshop focused on research needed for characterizing exposures to nanomaterials among workers, other populations, and environments by measuring and modeling exposure levels, and by monitoring indicators of biological responses through the product life of a nanomaterial.
Read more and comment on the NIOSH Science Blog.
NIOSH is the leading federal agency conducting research and providing guidance on the occupational safety and health implications and applications of nanotechnology. This research focuses NIOSH’s scientific expertise, and its efforts, on answering the questions that are essential to understanding these implications and applications:
Nanotechnology Spotlights:
Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology: Managing the Health and Safety Concerns Associated with Engineered Nanomaterials
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 2009-125
This document reviews what is currently known about nanoparticle toxicity, process emissions and exposure assessment, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment. This updated version of the document incorporates some of the latest results of NIOSH research, but it is only a starting point. The document serves a dual purpose: it is a summary of NIOSH's current thinking and interim recommendations; and it is a request from NIOSH to occupational safety and health practitioners, researchers, product innovators and manufacturers, employers, workers, interest group members, and the general public to exchange information that will ensure that no worker suffers material impairment of safety or health as nanotechnology develops.
Issues in Developing Worker Epidemiological Studies
Scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and a colleague from Emory University identify issues that researchers will need to consider in designing sound epidemiological studies of workers who may be exposed to engineered nanoparticles in the manufacturing and commercial use of nanomaterials. The issues are described and discussed in a paper published on-line, ahead of print, on Feb. 21 by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
NIOSH Offers Interim Guidance for Worker Medical Screening, Hazard Surveillance Pertaining to Engineered Nanoparticles
The NIOSH recommendations in “Current Intelligence Bulletin 60: Interim Guidance for the Medical Screening and Hazard Surveillance for Workers Potentially Exposed to Engineered Nanoparticles,” respond to ongoing interest by employers and other stakeholders in having authoritative occupational safety and health guidance in the manufacturing and industrial use of engineered nanomaterials. The recommendations also reflect NIOSH’s ongoing leadership in providing such interim scientific guidance as research progresses for determining whether engineered nanomaterials pose risks for adverse occupational health effects.
NIOSH Guidance Document Serves as a Model For and Is Heavily Cited in New ISO Technical Report
Technical leadership and contribution by NIOSH were noted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in its release Jan. 7 of a new technical report, "ISO/TR 12885:2008, "Health and safety practices in occupational settings relevant to nanotechnologies." The initial outline of the report was prepared using NIOSH's web-based document of findings and interim recommendations, "Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology," the report said. http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1191.
EPA Stewardship Report Acknowledges 'Approaches' as a Primary Resource
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program Interim Report," issued January 12, cites NIOSH's "Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology" as a "primary resource" and states that EPA "continues to consult with NIOSH, especially regarding risk management practices for new chemical nanoscale materials." http://epa.gov/oppt/nano/stewardship.htm
Dr. Vincent Castranova: Lifetime Scientific Achievement
Dr. Vincent Castranova is interviewed on podcast for "A Cup of Health," a feature of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Dr. Castranova, the chief of the Pathology and Physiology Research Branch of NIOSH's Health Effects Laboratory Division, received CDC's prestigious 2008 Charles C. Shepard Award for Lifetime Scientific Achievement. Dr. Castranova discusses his career in advanced research to prevent work-related respiratory diseases, and his current leadership in studies to determine if occupational exposures to nanomaterials pose unforeseen risks to human health.
Each topic provides a brief description of the research that NIOSH is conducting in the area of nanotechnology and the applications and implications of nanomaterials in the workplace.
