What Do We Know about Nano?

Nanotechnology involves manipulating the unimaginably small. A nanometer is about five carbon atoms in a row, or the distance your fingernail grows in one second. Matter behaves fundamentally differently at that scale, opening up new possibilities for products and processes. Nanotech is a vast emerging field of research, full of possibilities, and the media and the public are starting to take notice.

“One promise of nanotech is the idea of building molecule-sized machines to haul atoms. You could ‘grow’ anything you wanted. You could grow a house. Or a t-bone steak,” said Arizona State University (ASU) law professor Joel Garreau at a science café, “Facts or Hype: What is the Media Telling Us about Nano & Other New Technologies?” at the Arizona Science Center on March 19, 2010.

EPA Adds 6,300 Chemicals and 3,800 Chemical Facilities to Public Database

EPA has announced that it added more than 6,300 chemicals and 3,800 chemical facilities regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to a public database called Envirofacts.

The Envirofacts database is EPA's single point of access on the Internet for information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land in the United States and provides tools for analyzing the data. It includes facility name and address information, aerial image of the facility and surrounding area, map location of the facility, and links to other EPA information on the facility, such as EPA's inspection and compliance reports that are available through the Enforcement Compliance History Online database. EPA is also adding historic facility information for another 2,500 facilities.

TSCA Changes

TSCA changes are currently under review by Congress. These changes to TSCA are being presented in two major bills. EPA Administrator Jackson has a particualar interest in TSCA and examining select chemicals of concern including brominated flame retardants (PBDE) and polybisphenyl A (PBA).