Nano-Enabled Consumer Products

ASTM International Committee E56 on Nanotechnology has created a new subcommittee, E56.06 on Nano-Enabled Consumer Products.

The scope of E56.06 is to develop scientifically credible standards for the identification, evaluation and assessment of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products.

Members of E56.06 will develop standards for determining the presence of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products and understanding the potential for exposure from the use of these consumer products. Initial efforts of this new subcommittee will focus on the identification and evaluation of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products.

Projects under consideration include:

• Standards for measuring silver in textiles and liquids (including atomic spectroscopy to assess mass);
• Standards for evaluating the form of silver in textiles and liquids (including electron microscopy to evaluate size, shape and chemical composition; and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry to evaluate size using surface plasmon resonance absorbance).
• Standards for assessing nanosilver exposure potential from the use of textile and liquid consumer products [including release from consumer products in biological fluids (skin surface, lung, gastrointestinal tract); release from consumer products in environmental matrices (air, water, soil) throughout a product life cycle].

Expertise is being sought for this new subcommittee from the following areas:

• Analytical chemistry, including atomic spectroscopy;
• Scanning or transmission electron microscopy and analytical techniques such as energy dispersive X-ray analysis or auger spectroscopy;
• Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy;
• Materials characterization, including crystallinity and surface area;
• Textiles;
• Consumer product safety;
• Exposure assessment; and
• Environmental chemistry (air, water, soil).

CONTACT

Technical Information: (Chairman, E56) Debbie Kaiser, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.

Phone: 301-975-6759

(Subcommittee E56.06) Aleks Stefaniak, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, W.Va.

Phone: 304-285-6302

ASTM Staff: Timothy Brooke

Phone: 610-832-9729