NANOSAFE, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: NIEHS

Description

PROJECT SUMMARY Consumer products increasingly contain engineered nanomaterialsENMsor generate incidental nanoparticlesINPsENMs often improve the capabilities of a productsuch as through the imbuement of added functionalities inD printing filaments or anti staining ability in construction materialsOther productssuch as cosmetic airbrushes and aerosol applicatorsdisburse small particulates by design which often reach the nanoscaleINPsStudies continue to reveal adverse human health effects to exposure to ENMs and INPsespecially when airborneNumerous tools and assays already exist which can accurately characterize the sizeconcentrationcompositionand other properties of ENMs and INPsWhile additional improvements to characterization equipment is certainly valuableespecially with regard to the discernment of carbonaceous ENMs from INPsthe greatest impact on human health can be realized through the development of a robust exposure assessment protocol using the equipment already availableWe propose to develop an evaluation protocol for the independent assessment of exposure risk to airborne ENMs and INPs released by consumer productsthe NanoSafe VerifiedTM protocolExposure evaluations will occur in NanoSafe s Classcleanroomwhere ENM and INP concentration and size distribution will be measured while also sampling released airborne and surface deposited nanomaterial for compositional characterization using electron microscopymass spectroscopyand Raman spectroscopyIn Phase IthreeD printer models using seven ENM containing filaments and three INP generating cosmetic airbrushes using a variety of formulations will be assessed for exposure risk during operationThese assessments will guide Protocol developmentwhile additional products will be tested in Phase IIIn the ultimate commercial visionNanoSafe will evaluate ENM containing and INP generating consumer products for user exposure risk to respirable particulatesProducts demonstrating low ENM exposure risk by this NanoSafe VerifiedTM protocol will earn the use of the accompanying labelanalogous to ULor NSFmarks acquired on other productsThis mark will encourage consumer purchase of safer ENMcontaining and INP generating productsand in turninspire manufacturers to develop consumer products that present lessened ENM and INP exposure risk PROJECT NARRATIVE Engineered nanomaterialENMis increasingly included in consumer productsyet studies continue to reveal negative health effects of prolonged exposure to many ENMs and incidental nanoparticlesINPsIncreasing numbers of consumer products contain ENMssuch asD printer filaments and construction materialsand or generate INPsincluding cosmetic airbrushes and aerosolsNanoSafe proposes to provide a third party evaluation and certification protocol for ENM containing and INP generating consumer products to thoroughly assess human exposure to guide consumers toward purchase of units demonstrating lesser risk and to provide incentive for manufacturers to create products with reduced exposure potential