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Nanotechnology under the Toxic Substances Control Act Nanoscale Materials Stewardship

Program

Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program

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EPA's voluntary Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program

(NMSP) ended in December 2009. The Agency released its

Interim Report on the NMSP (PDF) (38 pp, 872K) in January

2009 and will issue a final report in 2010.

Although the NMSP provided EPA with useful information regarding a limited number of

nanoscale materials in commerce, a significant number of the environmental health and

safety data gaps remain. To address these gaps and prevent potential risks that may be

posed by nanoscale materials, EPA is taking a number of regulatory actions under the Toxic

Substances Control Act.

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. The NMSP had two parts:

1. Basic Program for reporting available information on engineered nanoscale materials

that were manufactured, imported, processed or used; and

2. In-depth Program to voluntarily develop data, including testing, over a longer time

frame.

More Information

Read about Control of

Nanoscale Materials under the

Toxic Substances Control Act.

Nanotechnology and the Environment

http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/stewardship.html

Last updated on Thursday, April 22, 2010

Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program | Nanotechnology and the Environment | US E... Page 1 of 2

http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/stewardship.html 8/23/2010
NMSP Participants

EPA is posting all non-confidential submissions; 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 (31 organizations covering more than 132 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

Silver Nanotechnology Working Group

Strem Chemicals

Swan Chemicals Inc.

Synthetic Amorphous Silica and Silicate Industry Association

Unidym

Three companies claimed as Confidential Business Information

Resources and Related Links

Interim Report on the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP) (PDF) (38 pp,

872K)

Meeting Summary Report (PDF) (35 pp, 119K) of the August 2, 2007, Public Meeting for

the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program

Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program | Nanotechnology and the Environment | US E... Page 2 of 2

http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/stewardship.html 8/23/2010