NEWS
Chaos at French nano debates
Protestors succeeded in shutting down one of a series of debates on nanotechnologies organised by the Special Commission for Public Debate (CPDP) on 19 January in Marseilles , France . Organised under the banner “Débat Public Nano”, nine other debates had been successfully conducted since October 2009 but, immediately following the welcome from Chairman Jean Bergougnoux at the Marseilles event, protestors starting disrupting the meeting by clapping, shouting, whistling, throwing paper balls and waving banners with slogans such as “Nano – It's not green, it's totalitarian”, eventually causing the meeting to be cancelled after an hour's chaos.
The organisation Pièces et main d'œuvres (PMO) of Grenoble , which had previously criticised the independence and neutrality of the CPDP, was implicated as the body behind the protest.
Video footage of the protest at the debate:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/...
New consortium wins contracts on the assessment of nanomaterials under REACH
Two new projects have been awarded by the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission's Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC) that will support the assessment of nanomaterials under the REACH Regulation.
REACH-NanoInfo addresses information requirements on intrinsic properties of nanomaterials in the context of REACH while REACH-NanoHazEx will provide advice on exposure assessments and on conducting hazard and risk characterisation for nanomaterials. Both projects kicked-off in January 2010 and will run over 12-16 months.
The consortium is led by SAFENANO (part of the UK 's Institute for Occupational Medicine (IOM) and also includes the Nanotechnology Industries Association , the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the company Soluzioni Informatiche from Italy , and brings together internationally renowned experts from disciplines including physical sciences, life sciences, occupational hygiene, and risk assessment.
Further information available at:
REACH-NanoInfo http://www.safenano.org/REACHnanoInfo.aspx
REACH-NanoHazEx http://www.safenano.org/REACHnanoHazEx.aspx
Commission urges major retailers to take a lead on food nanotechnology
Robert Madelin, Director-General of the European Commission's DG Sanco, told a meeting of major retailers at the European Retail Round Table in Brussels on 18 January 2010 that they needed to take a lead and to be upfront in explaining the risks and benefits of advances such as nanotechnology in food to their customers. "It would be extremely helpful if business leaders engaged beyond their comfort zone. Retailers should ask themselves what they do to help innovation," he said.
Amongst the responses, Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, said that the retail industry can play a role in helping to fulfil social policy objectives, but it would be "Unrealistic to expect them to do it alone… We are very willing to engage and accept our responsibilities. All we ask is that the Commission, the Parliament and the Council give us the right conditions to do so…" Ian Cheshire, CEO of Kingfisher, a major DIY retailer, said the industry was willing to step up, take responsibility and play its role in the debate on the future of European retail adding that innovation is something that retailers do not get sufficient credit for.
As part of a broader effort in relation to the food business, the EU executive also announced that it would establish the Food Supply Chain Forum. This forum would bring civil society, regulators, and businesses from across the food chain together to discuss development of the food retail sector.
Source: Euractiv
http://www.euractiv.com/en/enterprise-jobs/...
USA looks to a busy 2011 on nanotechnology safety research
Based upon the National Nanotechnology Initiative's (NNI) Supplement to President Obama's 2011 Budget, released in mid-February, the US will move into an active phase of addressing the safe development and use of nanotechnology-enabled materials, products and processes in 2011. When requests from other agencies are included, the 2011 budget request for targeted nanotechnology safety research across the federal government for 2011 comes to $116.9 million – three times the amount invested in 2006.
Planned work includes developing protocols to assess the potential release of airborne nanoparticles from various consumer products and to determine their contributions to human exposure; determining whether nanomaterials can be used for performance improvement in sports safety equipment such as helmets and kneepads without creating other health hazards; and expanding consumer product testing using scientifically credible protocols to evaluate the exposure potential from nanosilver in consumer products, with special emphasis on exposures to young children.
Source: 2020 Science
http://2020science.org/2010/02/18/...
NNI Supplement to the President's 2011 Budget
http://www.nano.gov/NNI_2011_budget_supplement.pdf
