Forecasting nano law: Defining nano

Nanotechnology Perceptions

Volumn 8, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 17-34

  Feitshans, Ilise L ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA MEDICAL SCHOOL   (Switzerland)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Health; Law; Nanotechnology; Regulation; Responsible development

Indexed keywords

EID: 84874296765     PISSN: 16606795     EISSN: 22352074     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.4024/N15FE11A.ntp.08.01     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. The question whether common use of a term that is widely understood ripens into law, the so-called "soft law", and thereby eventually becomes "real" law, has been discussed in several legal contexts, including. Ilise L. Feitshans, "Applicability of Public Health Principles to the Implementation of ILO Norms and Related Non-ILO International Standards" at the Séminaire "Responsabilité Sociétale des Entreprises & Régulations: Quel rôle pour les juristes?" Invited paper at the International Labour Studies Institute, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 9 October 2007.
2. nano.gov
3. See the proceedings of the Second Annual NanoImpactNet conference, sponsored by the EU, the Council of Europe, the Swiss accident assurance corporation SUVA and many additional private agencies and international organizations, Lausanne, Switzerland, 9-11 March 2010.
4. www.wilsoncenter.org
5. NanoImpactNet, The European Network on the Health and Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials (www.nanoimpactnet.eu).
6. Coördinator: Michael Riediker, Institut universitaire romande de santé au travail, Lausanne. See: Compendium of Projects in the European NanoSafety Cluster (2011), p. 103.
7. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Chairman: Sir John Lawton. Twenty-seventh Report: Novel Materials in the Environment: The Case of Nanotechnology (November 2008), paragraph 3.68.
8. Considering Whether an FDA-Regulated Product Involves the Application of Nanotechnology Guidance for Industry. Docket number FDA-2010-D-0530.
9. US billions, i.e. 109, are used here.
10. Key resources for scientific nano definitions include: guidance on safe handling of nanomaterials from www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/nanotech/ and www.GoodNanoGuide.org;
11. nanomaterial characteristics and hazard information from the Nanomaterials Registry and from www.nanoparticlelibrary.net;
12. computational resources for modeling and simulation in nanotechnology from resources such as the National Science Foundation's www.nanoHUB.org
13. the National Cancer Institute's https:// cabig.nci.nih.gov/tools/ caNanoLab
14. and the Nanomaterial-Biological Interactions knowledge base (http://nbi.oregonstate.edu/);
15. and information on nanotechnology-related changes in the legal arena from www.forecastingnanolaw.net.
16. Joan Benach, Carles Muntaner and Vilma Santan (chairs), "Employment Conditions and Health Inequalities: Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH)", p. 62. Published by: Health Inequalities Research Group, Occupational Health Research Unit, Department of Experimental Sciences and Health, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona (Catalonia), Social Equity and Health Section Center for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto (Ontario) and Institutes of Collective Health, University of Bahia, Salvador (Brazil), 2007.
17. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW01975.html
18. http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/
19. NanoImpactNet.6 See: Compendium of Projects in the European NanoSafety Cluster 2011, pp. 102-114, esp. p. 103.
20. See also: UK Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. 2010. Research into the likelihood and possible pathways of human exposure via inhalation arising throughout the life cycle of a selection of commercially available articles containing carbon nanotubes (document CB0423).
21. Swiss National Science Foundation, Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials. Implementation Plan of the National Research Programme NRP 64. Berne, 6 October 2009. This plan is notable because it succinctly reaches the main points in current policy dilemmas.
22. NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Current Intelligence Bulletin: Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers (draft document for public review and comment). Docket number NIOSH-161.
23. See the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Strategy for Nanotechnology- Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research, describing the National Nanotechnology Imitative (NNI)'s strategy for addressing priority research on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) aspects of nanomaterials. Research on workplace exposure to nanomaterials is a high priority. The broad implications of nanotechnology for society can be grouped into two categories, namely environmental, health, and safety implications and societal dimensions. See also: the NNI strategy for nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety research in coördination with the OECD
24. Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) Guidelines on a Precautionary Matrix for Synthetic Nanomaterials (Version 1.0). Berne, 2008. http:// www.bag.admin.ch/themen/ chemikalien/00228/00510/05626/index.html?lang'en
25. Over 25 United Nations agencies and regional groups such as the EU, governments and individual trade organizations participate in GHS to promote consistency among hazard and risk assessment within the global system for hazard classification, with a view to implementing GHS at the national level. This includes preparation of risk assessments for specific chemicals and developing and harmonizing hazard and risk assessment methods as well as preparing concise international chemical risk assessment documents, international chemical safety cards, pesticide data sheets and poisons information monographs. The official text of the GHS, which was adopted on 27 June 2007, is available on the web at: http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs-rev00/00files-e.html
26. The REACH (EC 1907/2006) regulation went into effect on 1 June 2007. The aim of REACH is to protect human health and the environment through better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances and to require manufacturers and importers to gather information on the properties of their chemicals.
27. Towards a European Strategy for Nanotechnology, p. 4. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (2004).
28. Thomas, D.G., Klaessig, F., Harper, S.L., Fritts, M., Hoover, M.D., Gaheen, S., Stokes, T.H., Reznik- Zellen, R., Freund, E.T., Klemm, J.D., Paik, D.S. and Baker, N.A. Informatics and standards for nanomedicine technology. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Nanomed. Nanobiotechnol. 3 (2011) 511-532.