Research on nanoparticles, toxicity to be highlighted

August 29, 2014

Dr. Sally Tinkle of the Science and Technology Policy Institute at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, D.C., will give the opening talk at 6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 7, for the 9th International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials.

The conference, which will continue through Sept. 11, will be held at the Columbia Metropolitan Conference Center in Columbia. More than 125 of the world’s leading scientists, researchers and academicians will join industry representatives and government regulators for the event, which is the longest running and one of the leading international conferences on environmental nanoscience/nanoecotoxicology.

Among the conference sponsors are the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, the Center for Environmental NanoScience and Risk and the National Science Foundation.

Conference participants will discuss the potential hazards and risks of current and future applications in the key sector of nanotechnology, along with mechanisms to bring about risk reduction while maintaining the economic and social benefits of the sector.

Dr. Jamie Lead of the Arnold School of Public Health, chair and organizer of the ICEENN,said the research being presented at the ninth conference will showcase the advances being made in understanding the toxicity and fate of nanoparticles on many organisms in the environment.

“The progress that has been made can be seen in the breadth and quality of the research that is being highlighted at the conference,” said Lead, who is Director of the SmartState Center for Environmental NanoScience and Risk at USC.

“As a community, we have gone beyond pragmatic questions of ‘are they toxic’ to extremely detailed and sophisticated studies and results,” he said. “We are also developing environmentally beneficial uses of nanoparticles.”

Other speakers include:

  • Dr. David Berube, a research professor of communication at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in science and technology communication.
  • Dr. Robert Tanguay, professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology and the director of the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory at Oregon State University.
  • Dr. Vicki H. Grassian, the F. Wendell Miller Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa, where she was appointed Founding Director of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute in 2006.
  • Dr. Kenneth A. Dawson, Director of the Centre for BioNano Interactions (CBNI), which focuses on the interaction of nanoparticles with living systems and leader of the European Infrastructure on Nanosafety (QualityNano).
  • Dr. Kevin J. Wilkinson, professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Montreal; his areas of expertise include environmental, biological, and analytical chemistry.
  • Dr. William K. Boyes, associate national program director for Emerging Materials for Chemical Safety and Sustainability in the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Research Triangle Park (North Carolina).
  • Dr. Wunmi Sadik,  professor of Chemistry and the principle investigator and director of “The Center for Advanced Sensors and Environmental Systems (CASE)” at SUNY-Binghamton.

The complete program of the conference is listed at http://www.cenr.sc.edu/conference/overview/full-program.

Registration for the conference remains open. Visit http://cenr.sc.edu/9-news/27-2014-iceenn-conference to know more.

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