NIOSH and the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, N.Y., have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance research and guidance for occupational safety and health in the nanoelectronics industry and other settings where workers are potentially exposed to engineered nanomaterials.
The partnership “will serve as a platform for occupational safety and health research as well as educational and business initiatives leading to the development of new risk management guidance, recommendations and findings relating to the potential human health impacts of exposure to nanomaterials,” NIOSH said.
“This collaborative effort provides the opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of the occupational health implications of nanomaterials and help NIOSH achieve its mission to protect worker health by providing good risk management and guidance to the nanomaterials industry,” NIOSH director Dr. John Howard said. “NIOSH and CNSE have partnered since 2010 and I am delighted that we will continue to work together on this important research.”
NIOSH and the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering have been working together since 2010. CNSE is known as the world leader in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience and nanoeconomics, boasting more than $20 billion in high-tech investments and more than 300 corporate partners.
In 2012, NIOSH and CNSE collaborated to hold the “Safe Nano Design Workshop” at the Albany NanoTech Complex. The workshop produced guidelines for the safe synthesis of nanoparticles and associated products through the “Prevention through Design” approach, in which occupational hazards of nanomaterials or risks from exposure to them are minimized early in the design process.
Additionally, NIOSH included CNSE nanomaterials research in its 2014 report, “The State of the National Initiative on Prevention Through Design.”