Invent the future

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Alan Kay (1940– ), American computer scientist

cited in www.askoxford.com

Four generations of nanotechnology products: Roco

Four generations of nanotechnology products and their respective manufacturing methods and research foci are identified: Passive nanostructures; active nanostructures; three-dimensional (3-D) nanosystems and systems of nanosystems; and heterogeneous molecular nanosystems. Designing new atomic and molecular assemblies is expected to increase in
importance, including macromolecules “by design” nanoscale machines, and directed multiscale selfassembling. Although expectations from nanotechnology may be overestimated in short-term, the long-term implications on healthcare, productivity
and environment appear to be underestimated.


http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/nano/reports/mcr_04-0101_visionnt@aiche_final.pdf

Nanotechnology Standards

Nanotechnology Standards

Knowledge Transfer Partnership KTP

Oxford University's Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) office initiates and supports the University's KT partnerships between academics, companies and high-calibre graduates seeking to make an impact in the business environment. It enables companies to access the University's research expertise and facilities, academics to apply their knowledge to developing solutions to real-world problems and graduates to develop their business skills in tandem with involvement in hi-tech research at the University.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are part-funded by the Government, which reimburses a proportion of the University's costs. The company pays the rest - typically, for an SME, one third of the cost of the project plus its own business overheads.



For more details of the KTP scheme visit contact us at ktp@begbroke.ox.ac.uk, download our handout summarising the benefits of KTPs to each of the partners, or visit the schemes national websites at www.dti.gov.uk/ktp | www.ktponline.co.uk/







SAFENANO INITIATIVES:

Our most notable development being launch of a new 'Projects mini-section' of the
SAFENANO site, which details all of our past and ongoing projects, and provides access to many of the full reports which were produced as aresult of these. We'd appreciate your feedback on the information included in this section, so follow this link to have a look , and let us know your thoughts via our contact us link!

Elsewhere the fields of regulation, guidance and standards have seen a number of new developments emerge in the last week. This has been particularly true within the US, where the ASTM announced revision of its nanotechnology standard E2490 'Guide for Measurement of Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials in Suspension by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy' following conduction of a large-scale inter-laboratory
study, and the EPA also released a draft for consideration of 'Nanomaterial Case Studies: Titanium Dioxide'. This document aims to take a comprehensive environmental assessment (CEA) approach to evaluating NPs in products, which combines a product life-cycle framework with the risk assessment paradigm (the applications included
in the case study being sunscreen and water treatment). Overall, it provides both a source of information for interested parties, and an insight into the current thinking being employed by EPA toward consideration of the EHS issues surrounding regulatable products. On a more global scale, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies this week also announced the conference date and agenda for the project 'Regulating Nanotechnologies in the EU and US', which will include the
launch of its major report on "Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies". Finally the IEST has announced issue of new guidance for the design of AMC filtration systems.

Public engagement and interation was also in the headlines this week, with the launch of a pilot site for the new UK-based Nano&Me initiative, announcement from the CNSE that it has appointed a new co-ordinator for its NanoHealth Initiative, news from the InForm project announcing its plans to provide a boost for formulation science in nanotechnology.


Standards & Regulations

ASTM revises nanotechnology standard E2490
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=782

ASTM International has announced a revision to its nanotechnology standard E2490.

IEST issues guideline for the design of AMC filtration systems http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=786


The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) has provided guidance for the design of filtration systems to eliminate trace amounts of airborne molecular contamination (AMC).


Government & Policy

Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=788

EPA releases draft document 'Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide in Water Treatment and Topical Sunscreen'


Nanotoxicology & Ecotoxicology

Nanoparticles Affect Brain Development In Mice
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=783

Japansese researchers report that maternal exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) affects the expression of genes related to the central nervous system in developing mice

InForm project provides boost to formulation science for nanotechnologies
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=785

A new 1.7 million euro EU funded project involving 17 world-leading research institutions will encourage the transfer of ideas and knowledge in formulation science for nano.

Call For Papers: Nanotechnology Exposure Assessment
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=787

The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health is seeking submissions for a special issue exploring Human and Environmental Exposure Assessment for Nanomaterials.

Searching for engineered nanomaterials in the environment
http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=791

An article published in ES&T discusses the shift in environmental research related to nanomaterials away from the lab towards looking for real nanomaterials in the environment.

Identifying critical research needs for the eco-responsible development of nanotechnology http://www.safenano.org/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=792

An article published in ACS Nano summarises the outcomes of the recent ICON - sponsored environmental workshop & identifies the critical research needs for eco-responsible nanotechnology development.

Nano database

http://community.safenano.org/blogs/rob_aitken/archive/2009/05/20/326.aspx#328
Rob Aitken:Stress testing
OECD database is a very impressive and ambitious attempt to gather together information about all of the relevant nano EHS studies which have been carried out or are currently underway. Having just gone live, it is perhaps inappropriate at this time to expect too much from this database, even though it was constructed largely from the previous database from Woodrow Wilson. Having previously worked with that database as part of our EMERGNANO project, I know well the issues which have to be addressed in order to clean the data such that it may be usefully used in analysis or future studies. In addition the need to continually add to the data, and keep it up to date is also paramount. In our EMERGNANO study we took great care to dig below the entry level data available in the database in order to identify those projects which were really relevant and were making real contributions towards resolving the questions relevant to the safety of nanomaterials. My hope had been that OECD would be similarly judicious in their data cleaning activities.

I have to say that my first attempt to derive useful information from this database has not filled me with a great level of confidence. The reason I was using the database was to prepare a talk for EuroNanoforum 2009 which will be held in Prague in June of this year. I am giving a key note speech there in the EHS session and in which I intend to lay out the European landscape. I looked at the OECD database as an information source by which to find all of the projects funded under the framework (FP7) programme. From other activities within that programme (more later) I know of approximately 15 projects with a total funding of something close to 50 million Euros which are under way or about to start. I had had understood that these projects had been added to the OEACD database.

Well it may be that they are, but they are not very easy to find! A search of funding source reveals some interesting reading. First search term “EC”, one project found ENREHS (one of IOM’s). That’s good but the “country” is identified as EC although the project is lead from the UK. Hmmmm. Second term “European”, one project found, which was in fact a regional government funded French project not an EC project. Third attempt “EU”, thirteen projects found. Ah, excellent! Closer examination however shows that only five of the relevant FP7 projects were in that search including one which came up twice. The remainder of the thirteen comprised various other national or barely relevant projects.

Next term “FP7” no projects found. Help, where are the rest of the projects? Eventually after much digging I found 10 of the 15 projects, there may be more!

Undeterred I pressed on, which of my projects are in here? No rather than that, I thought I would search for Lang Tran’s projects. I found three. That might surprise those of you had been under the impression that Lang was one of the most active and widely known researchers working in this area in Europe! It is interesting. The three which were found were “Nanoparticles an occupational hygiene review” in which I was the principal investigator. Project status described as “project is underway” (the project finished in 2004) The second one “A scoping study to indentify hazard data needs for addressing the risks presented by nanoparticles and nanotubes”, principal investigator Lang Tran, status project is underway (the project finished in 2006) The third one a risk assessment for particle exposure principal investigator Tran Lang status correctly identified as project is underway although the name under which this project is better known is PARTICLE_RISK which is not apparent from the data entry. No mention then of the CELLPEN and HARN projects which Lang has led for DEFRA over the last couple of years or of the various other projects of which Lang has been a co-author including EMERGNANO and REFNANO. Nor is there any reference to the ENPRA FP7 project which has just been funded which should also appear in this list.

Its also interesting looking at some of the projects which are on the list. You can do this by selecting all projects. I’ve pull out just a few examples, one, “The tenth annual green chemistry and engineering conference: student scholarships” this entry starts 2006, ends 2007 is to support students to attend this particular conference.

A second one, “A continuous monitor for arsenic in drinking water”?

A third one, “A fundamental study of transport within a single nanoscopic channel.” This project is about quantifying mass transport through nanoporous media and while undoubtedly it is a worthy piece of science and does have some relevance its immediate application towards risk assessment management is probably some time away. Nevertheless this project is identified as having substantial relevance.

“A nanocontact sensor for heavy metal.”, I could go on

These are just a four projects selected from the first page of twenty entries in a total of six hundred and ninety one entries. It is fair to say that the relevance of some of these projects to NANO EHS is rather mixed.

This is not intended to be overly critical of what OECD have done here. On the contrary I think what they have started is something that will in due course become an excellent tool for both researchers and policymakers in this area. However until the data contained within the database can be thoroughly cleaned and validated, a process which will take some considerable time and effort, and kept up to date, then use of the data contained therein for policy making and research prioritisation must be highly suspect.