New research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) raises awareness of the occupational safety and health practices necessary during the synthesis, characterization and experimentation using engineered nanomaterials in a laboratory setting. The paper "General Safe Practices for Working with Engineered Nanomaterials in Research Laboratories," is posted online and is designed to be used in tandem with well-established practices and a laboratory’s chemical hygiene plan.
The paper is based on input from several subject matter experts and was initiated as a joint effort under a Memorandum of Understanding between NIOSH and the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN), and one of its’ member campuses University of Massachusetts, Lowell. A consortium of California Universities including Stanford, UCLA, University of CA at Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine provided review of the content.