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Abstract:
New Report on End-of-Life Regulation of Nanotechnologies

Where Does the Nano Go?

Washington, DC | Posted on July 19th, 2007

All materials and products eventually come to the end of their useful life, and those made with nanotechnology are no different. This means that engineered nanomaterials will ultimately enter the waste stream and find their way into landfills or incinerators-and eventually into the air, soil and water. As a result, it is important to consider how various forms of nanomaterials will be disposed of and treated at the end of their use, and how the regulatory system will treat such materials at the various stages of their lifecycle.

A new report from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Where Does the Nano Go? End-of-Life Regulation of Nanotechnologies, addresses these issues. Authored by Linda K. Breggin and John Pendergrass, legal experts from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the report presents the most comprehensive analysis to-date of two key Environmental Protection Agency laws that regulate the end-of-life management of nanotechnology. These are the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund statute.

The report is timely. Today, there are over 500 company-identified nanotechnology consumer products on the market, all of which will sooner or later be disposed of. These products can be seen in an online inventory maintained by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (see: http://www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts ). This inventory does not include nanotech products being sold but not identified as such, or the hundreds of nano raw materials, intermediate components, and industrial equipment items used by manufacturers today.

Please join us on July 26, 2007, for the release of this report featuring the authors, along with Leslie Carothers, President of the Environmental Law Institute, and David Rejeski, Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. The discussion will focus on the end-of-life regulation of nanotechnologies. The report will be available on the day of the event at http://www.nanotechproject.org .

*** Webcast LIVE at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano ***

Who: Linda K. Breggin, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law Institute
John Pendergrass, Senior Attorney; Director, Center for State, Local, and Regional Environmental Programs; Co-Director, International Programs, Environmental Law Institute
Leslie Carothers, President, Environmental Law Institute
David Rejeski, Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Moderator

What: A new report, Where Does the Nano Go? End-of-Life Regulation of Nanotechnologies

When: Thursday, July 26, 2007, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Where: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 5th Floor Conference
Room. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (Directions: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/directions )

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About The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
This event is being organized by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. The Project was launched in 2005 by the Wilson Center and The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is dedicated to helping business, governments, and the public anticipate and manage the possible health and environmental implications of nanotechnology.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Sharon McCarter
Director of Outreach

Brett Kitchen
Director of Communications
ELI
(202) 939-3833

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