This was the fist full day of presentations at the 3rd Nanotechnology, Occupational and Environmental Health Conference in Taipei. After some brief opening remarks by the hosts and organisers, Andrew Maynard of the Woodrow Wison Institute provided an exceptional keynote speech entitled “Safe nanotechnology – where are we now, and where are we going”. In this he laid out the huge potential benefits which are likely to arise from nanotechnology, in medicine, energy, water and new materials but warned that these could be lost unless the potential risks are adequately addressed. As he observed, with the right research; carried out in an appropriate context and with adequate funding there is every reason to expect that many of these technologies will be developed in a way that ensures that the risks are acceptably low.
The rest of the days programme was no less stimulating. Other highlights of the day included a presentation from Lin Li of Washington University in St Louis, USA, on the use of the TSI Electrical Aerosol Detector (EAD). This device has more recently been adapted to measure particle surface area. By sequentially changing the voltage on the ion trap within the device, they were able to collect and measure different size fractions of aerosol. In so doing, they were able to develop information about particle size. A neat trick, which will require a lot more testing and validation, but shows great promise. Other interesting papers in the day included a presentation by Chuck Geraci who provided a case study from the NIOSH nanoparticle field testing programme and Michael Riediker who gave an overview of NanoImpactNet, a new European Network which has just attracted some funding from the EU Framework Programme.
I caught up with Chuck later. The NIOSH programme undertakes surveys in and measurement campaigns in workplaces where nanoparticles and being made or used. Measurement systems include CPC particle counters and SMPS to measure size information. Improvements to control systems and working practices are developed and implemented as necessary. NIOSH have visited 15 worksites, all volunteers, all free of charge, in the last 18 months and are keen to do more. So if you’re interested in volunteering contact Chuck at NIOSH (CGeraci@cdc.gov). I was a little surprised to learn that there is no requirement to put the results of these surveys into the public domain although NIOSH is obviously keen to publish where agreement to do so has been reached. Some of the results are to be presented in this conference (final day) and NIOSH intends to publish some summaries of the data shortly.
Despite the high quality of the presentations, you do question the value of travelling great distances to attend meetings such as this. However, the lunch-break today provided ample support for the decision to attend. While sitting on the steps eating my boxed lunch provided by the organisers I managed to have three short but important meetings in little more than an hour. My first was with Andrew Maynard. We had one of our wide-ranging discussions, of the type that can only really happen when you meet face to face. Andrew was keep to learn more about the SAFENANO site and was particularly interested in the community aspects. I took the opportunity to provide him with more information and asked whether he would be prepared to write an article, or series of articles for the site. We discussed several possibilities but look for an article to appear soon. We also discussed the particle characterisation scheme we developed for our recent publication in nanotoxicology. Andrew has used this in his conference opening keynote address. Although this scheme was intended to help us think about measurement issues, Andrew has a view that it has much wider applications in thinking about nanomaterials, foe example in relation to reference materials. We agreed to try to pursue this and other applications further starting with a meeting on reference materials being organised by NIST next month in Maryland, USA.
Next I spoke with Dave Mark of the UK’s Health and Safety Laboratory. Dave is an old friend from his time at IOM. Together we are planning a joint workshop with the Nanotechnology Industry Association (NIA) in London in November. The intention is to try to map out the kind of services which industry needs in order to better address risk issues. Dave and I managed to fix the agenda and plan out the meeting. I’m looking forward to what I think will be a very useful day.
Finally, I spoke with Peter Hatto who is chair of ISO committee, ISO229 Nanotechnologies. Peter also chairs the UK mirror group BSI NTI/1. This committee is also the steering group for contract which IOM/SAFENANO has won to develop a Good Practice Guide for the Safe Handling and Disposal of Nanomaterials. I was able to update on our progress with this contract. It’s planned that this guide will be published but BSI early next year.
The day concluded with a visit to Taipei 101, currently the world tallest building, and a dinner on the 89th floor with the conference technical committee. A most impressive building and a great dinner too. A nice surprise was to see a display on the top floor of 101 of the seven “Engineering wonders of the world”. There at number four on the list was the Falkirk Wheel which stirred a little Scottish pride so far from home.
More tomorrow.
Rob