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NANOTECHNOLOGY

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Partnerships & Collaborations

Grants and funding opportunities may be available through the Office of Extramural Programs  .

Research laboratories, producers and manufacturers working with engineered nanomaterials (1 to 100 nm) who are interested in participating in a cost-free, on-site assessment can visit the Field Studies team page for more information.

Integral to completing research are the partnerships and collaborations NIOSH has forged with countries, academia, industry, labor, other government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. These collaborations have provided expertise and resources critical for successfully completing research and for developing and disseminating health and safety information on engineered nanoparticles. The following are some of the ongoing NIOSH partnerships and collaborations in nanotechnology research. 

Partnerships & Collaborations in Nanotechnology Research

Safety and Health Organizations and Expert Groups

  • American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
    Participating on working group activities and information exchange and dissemination for nanoparticle characterization and control
  • American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)
  • American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
  • Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences
    Modifying software for use in lung dosimetry modeling
  • Health Physics Society (HPS)
    Participating in working group activities and information exchange and dissemination for nanoparticle characterization and control
  • Collaborating on the respirator filter media work being conducted at the University of Minnesota to assess the filtration efficiency against nanoparticles
  • International Alliance for Nanotoxicology Harmonization (IAHN)
    Establishing protocols for reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials in both cell cultures and animals
  • The initiative on Minimum Information Needed for Characterization of Nanomaterials (MINChar)
    Encouraging adoption of a minimum set of physical and chemical material characterization parameters in nanotoxicology studies
  • Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Edinburgh, Scotland
    Revising rat lung dosimetry models to account for particle size-specific clearance and retention.
  • National Safety Council (NSC)

Federal and Other Government Agencies

  • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
  • Department of Energy (DOE)
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauve en Sante et en Securite du Travail (IRSST)
    Exchanging information on approaches to safe nanotechnology
  • International Labour Organization (ILO)
    Developing information on nanotechnology for a revised edition of the Encylopaedia of Occupaitonal Health and Safety
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
    Developing international standards for terminology, characterization, and safety practices for nanotechnology
  • Karolinska Institute
    Evaluating the effect of nanomaterials on immune cells
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
    Evaluating the toxicity of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/ National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense on nanotoxicology
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
    Evaluating the toxicity of nanoparticles and developing nanoscale reference materials
  • Through active participation in NNI's strategic and budget planning processes, and coordination of research into occupational safety and health of nanotechnology with other government agencies
  • National Toxicology Program
    Participating in the conduct of field assessments and toxicological research
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    Evaluating the pulmonary toxicity of nanoparticles
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
    Evaluating the effectiveness of workplace control measures
  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
    Collaborating on exposure measurement and exposure mitigation
  • U.S. Air Force
  • U.S. Army
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Collaborating with Forest Products Laboratory on exposure assessment and toxicology of nanocellulose
  • U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
    Exchanging information on emerging application and health and safety issues for nanotechnology in the nuclear arena
  • World Health Organization (WHO)

Nanotechnology Industries

  • Altair Nano
    Understanding and improving the control of ultrafine metal oxides and engineered nanomaterials
  • DuPont and the Nanoparticle Occupational Safety and Health industry consortium
    On issues related to the measurement of nanoparticles and the efficiency of filtration materials for engineered nanoparticles
  • IBM
    Evaluating the bioactivity of silicon nanowires
  • Luna Nano Works
    Understanding and improving the control of fullerenes and other engineered nanoparticles
  • Mitsui Co. Inc.
    Evaluating the bioactivity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs).
  • NanoMech LLC
    Collaborating on a proposed EPA phase I SBIR project related to containment of airborne nanoparticles.
  • QD Vision
    Understanding and improving the control of quantum dots.
  • The Ohio State University
    Evaluating workplaces, controls, and practices in the nanocomposites industry
  • University of Cincinnati
    Translating nanotechnology research into occupational and environmental health and safety activities
  • University of Dayton Research Institute
    Understanding and improving the control of carbon nanotubes
  • University of Iowa
    Measuring airborne concentrations of ultrafine particles
  • University of Nevada at Reno (with Altair Nano)
    Understanding and improving the control of ultrafine metal oxides and engineered nanomaterials
  • University of Massachusetts at Lowell
    Collaborating on the development of good practices for handling nanomaterials in research laboratories and developing exposure assessment methods
  • University of Minnesota
    Measuring airborne concentrations of ultrafine particles
  • University of Montana
    Evaluating the toxicity of nanowires
  • University of Montreal
    Assessing and characterizing nanoparticles in the workplace
  • University of Pittsburgh
    Evaluating the toxicity of nanomaterials
  • University of Rochester
    Measuring the ability of nanoparticles to generate radical species
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison
    Developing exposure assessment strategies and characterizing nanoparticles in friction stir welding and micromachining
  • Virginia Tech University
    Understanding and improving the control of fullerenes and other engineered nanoparticles
  • West Virginia University Nanotechnology Center
    Evaluating the toxicity of metal oxide nanowires
  • West Virginia University Medical School
    Evaluating the effects of pulmonary exposure to nanoparticles, including the influence of exposure to titanium dioxide (TiO2) on systemic microvascular function

Collaborative Workshops

2012

  • NIOSH   Prevention through Design   (PtD) Program and the Nanotechnology Research Center co-sponsored with the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering (University at Albany, Albany, NY) a Safe Nano Design: Molecule » Manufacturing » Market workshop.

2011

  • NIOSH co-sponsored the 5th International Nanomaterial Occupational Safety and Health (NanOSH) conference in Boston, MA.

2010

  • NIOSH and the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center co-sponsored the conference on Nanomaterials and Worker Health: Medical Surveillance, Exposure Registries, and Epidemiologic Research in Keystone, Colorado.

2009

  • NIOSH served as the agency lead for the National Nanotechnology Initiative Workshop on Human and Environmental Exposure Assessment in Bethesda, MD.
  • NIOSH co-sponsored the Fourth International Conference on Nanotechnology-Occupational and Environmental Health planned in Helsinki, Finland

2008

  • NIOSH co-sponsored a National Institute of Standards and Technology Workshop on Enabling Standards for Nanomaterial Characterization in Gaithersburg, MD.
  • NIOSH co-sponsored The Second International Conference on Nanotechnology in Zurich, Switzerland
  • NIOSH co-sponsored the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development workshop on Exposure Assessment and Exposure Mitigation in Frankfurt, Germany.

2007

  • NIOSH collaborated with the International Aerosol Research Assembly and the American Association for Aerosol Research to hold the Second International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Occupational Health in conjunction with the international aerosol conference in St. Paul, MN.
  • NIOSH and the University of Cincinnati cosponsored the International Conference on Nanotechnology Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety: Research to Practice, in Cincinnati, OH.
  • NIOSH convened a collaborative workshop that included representatives from government, academia, labor, and industry in Washington, DC, to review a draft document developed by NIOSH and a cross-agency work group, titled Interim Guidelines on Medical Screening of Workers Potentially Exposed to Engineered Nanoparticles.
  • NIOSH co-sponsored the Third Symposium on Occupational Health Implications of Nanomaterials in Taipei, Taiwan.

2006

  • NIOSH co-sponsored the second Symposium on Occupational Health Implications of Nanomaterials in Minneapolis, MN.

2005

  • NIOSH cosponsored the first Symposium on Occupational Health Implications of Nanomaterials in Buxton, United Kingdom

Respiratory Protection

Read “Respiratory Protection for Workers Handling Engineered Nanoparticles” on the NIOSH Science Blog and share your comments.

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