ASTM Nanotechnology Committee Creates Subcommittee on Nano-Enabled Consumer Products

ASTM International Committee E56 on Nanotechnology has created a new subcommittee, E56.06 on Nano-Enabled Consumer Products.

The scope of E56.06 is to develop scientifically credible standards for identification, evaluation and assessment of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products.

Members of E56.06 will develop standards for determining the presence of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products and understanding the potential for exposure from the use of these consumer products. Initial efforts of this new subcommittee will focus on the identification and evaluation of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products.

Projects under consideration include:
•    Standards for measurement of silver in textiles and liquids (including atomic spectroscopy to  assess mass);
•    Standards for evaluating the form of silver in textiles and liquids (including: electron microscopy to evaluate size, shape and chemical composition; ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry to evaluate size using surface plasmon resonance absorbance); and
•    Standards for assessment of nanosilver exposure potential from use of textile and liquid consumer products (including: release from consumer products in biological fluids [skin surface, lung, gastrointestinal tract]; release from consumer products in environmental matrices [air, water, soil] throughout a product lifecycle).

Expertise is being sought for participation in this new subcommittee from the following areas:
•    Analytical chemistry, including atomic spectroscopy;
•    Scanning or transmission electron microscopy and analytical techniques such as energy
    dispersive X-ray analysis or auger spectroscopy;
•    Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy;
•    Materials characterization, including crystallinity and surface area;
•    Textiles;
•    Consumer product safety;
•    Exposure assessment; and
•    Environmental chemistry (air, water, soil).

For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.

ASTM Committee E56 Next Meeting:
Nov 15-16, November Committee Week, San Antonio, Texas
Technical Contact: (Chairman, E56) Debbie Kaiser, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md., Phone: 301-975-6759; debra.kaiser@nist.gov;  (Subcommittee E56.06) Aleks Stefaniak, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, W.Va., Phone: 304-285-6302; boq9@cdc.gov
ASTM Staff Contact: Timothy Brooke, Phone: 610-832-9729; tbrooke@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #8698/Sept2010

  

Committee
E56
September 30, 2010