The French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation and Housing has recently published a final decree regarding the mandatory reporting of nanomaterials. The decree, which was signed in February 2012 and will be applicable from January 2013, requires companies that manufacture, import, distribute nanomaterials in quantities  of ≥ 100g to submit to the authorities an annual declaration containing the quantity and use information. Read more

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) have provided the first evidence that engineered nanoparticles are able to accumulate within plants and damage their DNA. In a recent paper,* the team led by NIST chemist Bryant C. Nelson showed that under laboratory conditions, cupric oxide nanoparticles have the capacity to enter plant root cells and generate many mutagenic DNA base lesions. Read more

The Food and Drug Administration issued two draft guidances April 20 on the assessment of the effects of nanotechnology on food and cosmetics safety. Read more