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Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program
More Information
Read about Nanotechnology under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Interested in the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP)?
The NMSP continues to grow. See current NMSP participants. EPA welcomes new participants and submissions. Please submit your contact information or comments on the interim report.
On this page:
- NMSP Interim Report
- Under the Basic Program
- Under the In-Depth Program
- More on the Basic Program
- More on the In-Depth Program
- Program Participants
- Evaluation
- How to Participate in the NMSP
- Background
January 12, 2009 – EPA released its interim report on the NMSP (PDF) (38 pp, 872K). The Agency welcomes comments on the interim report and expects to issue a final report and program evaluation in early 2010.
January 28, 2008 - EPA launched the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP). The NMSP will help provide a firmer scientific foundation for regulatory decisions by encouraging submission and development of information including risk management practices for nanoscale materials. Nanoscale materials that are either new or existing chemical substances (as determined by the status of the substance on the TSCA Chemical Substances Inventory) can be included in the program. See TSCA Inventory Status of Nanoscale Substances – General Approach (2008) (PDF), (7 pp, 37K). The NMSP contains a basic and an in-depth program:
Under the Basic Program
- Participants are invited to voluntarily report available information on the engineered nanoscale materials they manufacture, import, process or use.
- EPA encourages participants to use the optional data submission form (PDF) (16 pp, 101K) and worksheet (PDF) (7 pp, 1.2M) to help report this information.
- Some participants will find using the data form the best option, but participants may provide available data in any format.
- EPA is not requesting that participants develop additional data, only that participants submit existing data.
Under the In-Depth Program
- Participants would voluntarily develop data, including testing, over a longer time frame.
- Entities or consortia with an interest in developing data for a specific nanoscale material(s) should notify EPA.
- Once potential participants are identified, EPA will facilitate a process leading to data development.
EPA welcomes discussions with and questions from those who may be interested in participating. Please contact Jim Alwood, of EPA's Chemical Control Division, at alwood.jim@epa.gov or 202-564-8974.
More on the Basic Program
EPA encourages participants in the basic program to submit existing data on or before July 28, 2008. The types of data that should be submitted can be found in:
- Annex B of the NMSP concept paper (PDF) (21 pp, 165K) (see pages 13-15);
- the NMSP Information Collection Request (PDF) (25 pp, 101K);
- the optional data submission form (PDF) (16 pp, 101K);
- worksheet (PDF) (7 pp, 1.2M).
These data include information on material characterization, hazard, use, potential exposures, and risk management practices. Participants will submit only available data that are relevant to their particular nanoscale materials.
EPA invites each participant in the basic program to submit available data on risk management practices for nanoscale materials it manufactures, imports, processes, or uses. A participant who has already developed a risk management plan is invited to include the plan as part of its submission under the basic program. EPA encourages participants who do not have a risk management plan to consider developing one and providing it with their basic submission.
More on the In-Depth Program
The data and experience generated by the basic program, including input from the interim program evaluation, will help to inform the types of in-depth data that need to be developed. It is likely that in-depth data will be developed for representative nanoscale materials designated by participants who agree to sponsor data development efforts for a particular nanoscale material. EPA and the sponsors would devise a data development plan. In some cases, a particular sponsor may choose to implement one or more aspects of the plan; or a consortium of sponsors and other stakeholders may also work together to implement aspects of the plan. At its completion, EPA and the sponsors, considering input from stakeholders, would again review the information gathered; conduct final assessments; and consider further action.
Efforts under the in-depth program may also be relevant to the work being done under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Working Party for Manufactured Nanomaterials. 
See International Cooperation on Nanomaterials.
Program Participants
Companies that manufacture, import, process, or use nanoscale materials for commercial purposes, are invited to join the NMSP, including those who:
- Manufacture or import engineered nanoscale materials;
- Physically or chemically modify or process an engineered nanoscale material;
- Physically or chemically modify or process a non-nanoscale material to create an engineered nanoscale material; or
- Use engineered nanoscale materials in the manufacture of a product.
Others, including researchers who develop or study engineered nanoscale materials, are also invited to participate. Any participation in the program is voluntary.
Annex A of the NMSP concept paper (PDF) (21 pp, 165K) (see pages 8-12), further discusses who could participate and the types of materials that could be included in the program.
Current NMSP Participants (as of December 8, 2008)
EPA is posting all non-confidential submissions below as they become available; click on the company name below to access the submission(s) from that company. Other submissions, containing confidential business information, cannot be placed on the EPA Web site.
Submitted under the Basic Program (29 organizations covering more than 123 nanoscale materials)
Altairnano
Ahwanee
Arkema
BASF Corporation
Bayer Material Science
Dow Chemical
DuPont
Evonik/Degussa
General Electric
International Carbon Black Association
Nano-C
Nanofilm
Nanophase Technologies Corporation
Nantero
Office ZPI
PPG Industries
Pressure Chemical
Quantum Sphere
Sabic Plastic Innovations
Sasol North America
Selah Technologies, Inc
SouthWest NanoTechnologies, Inc.
Showa Denko KK
Strem Chemicals
Swan Chemicals Inc.
Synthetic Amorphous Silica and Silicate Industry Association
Unidym
Two companies claimed as Confidential Business Information
Additional Commitments to Submit Information under the Basic Program (7)
Angstron Materials
eSpin Technologies
Evident Technologies
Luna Nanoworks
MicroTechNano
Nanocyl North America
One company claimed as Confidential Business Information
Commitments to Participate in the In-depth Program (5)
CNano Corporation
SouthWest NanoTechnologies, Inc.
Selah Technologies, Inc
Swan Chemicals Inc.
Unidym
Evaluation
EPA released its interim report (PDF) (38 pp, 872K) on the program on January 12, 2009. EPA expects to issue a more detailed report and program evaluation in early 2010. At the time of the final report, EPA intends to determine the future direction of both the basic reporting and in-depth data development phases, although adjustments or decisions on future steps may be made at an earlier point if sufficient experience is gained. This would also include consideration of use of regulatory authorities under TSCA.
How to Participate in the NMSP
Send submissions for the basic program, requests to participate in the in-depth program, or any other input regarding the program to these addresses:
Mail:
Document Control Office (7407M)
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
ATTN: Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program
Given security measures for mail, EPA does not recommend mail for a disk or CD-ROM because the equipment used to scan the mail may destroy the disk or CD-ROM.
Hand Delivery:
OPPT Document Control Office (DCO)
EPA East Bldg., Rm. 6428
1201 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC
The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the DCO is (202) 564-8930. Such deliveries are only accepted during the DCO's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
CBI Instructions:
Clearly mark any documents as pertaining to the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program. If you are claiming information as Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute, you must clearly label the information that is CBI. If you are using the reporting form, follow the instructions on the reporting form. If information is claimed as confidential, a sanitized version (including attachments) should be provided. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-mail. If you submit an electronic submission, EPA recommends that you include your name and other
contact information in the body of the submission and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your submission due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your submission. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Background
In October 2006, EPA launched a collaborative public process to design and develop this stewardship program. On July 12, 2007, EPA announced the availability for public comment of:
- Concept paper (PDF) (21 pp, 165K) that outlined the Agency's initial thinking on the design and development of the NMSP;
- NMSP Information Collection Request (PDF) (25 pp, 101K);
- TSCA Inventory Status of Nanoscale Substances – General Approach (2007) (PDF) (7 pp, 39K) that described EPA's initial thinking regarding whether a nanoscale material is a "new" or "existing" chemical substance under TSCA.
EPA held a public meeting (PDF) (35 pp, 119K) on August 2, 2007, to obtain additional input on the NMSP and related documents. EPA finalized the design and format of the NMSP based on written public comments, comments received at the public meeting, and scientific peer consultations on risk management practices (PDF) (75 pp, 464K) in October 2006, and on material characterization (PDF) (83 pp, 601K) in September 2007. On January 28, 2008, EPA announced the final NMSP and invited interested parties to participate in the program.
