Tag Archives: Carlton Owen

New US platform for nanocellulose and occupational health and safety research

There’ve been quite a few (more than two) news items about nanocellulose in the last weeks. This latest one from the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) concerns a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a new research platform, from a May 28, 2015 news item on Nanowerk,

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Partnership to Advance Research and Guidance for Occupational Safety and Health in Nanotechnology (P3NANO). The partnership between NIOSH and P3NANO will serve as a platform for occupational safety and health research as well as educational and business initiatives leading to the development of new risk management guidance, recommendations, and findings relating to the potential human health impacts of exposure to nanoscale cellulose materials.

I found more information about P3NANO in a Sept. 27, 2014 post by Michael Goergen for the Forest Business Network blog,

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment) today announced the selection of nine scientific proposals designed to advance the commercialization of Cellulosic Nanomaterials (CN). The projects are being funded through P3Nano – a public-private partnership founded by the Endowment and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) with federal matching funds being provided by the Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry and Research and Develop branches and work coordinated with the USFS Forest Products Laboratory. The initial projects total more than $3 million in partnership funding.

Through a review process that included experts in business, government, and academia with extensive experience in CN, proposals were selected from 65 submissions requesting more than $20 million.

Carlton Owen, Chair of the P3Nano Steering Committee and President of the Endowment stated, “Our partnership is committed to finding new high-value products that build on the renewability of the nation’s forests. Cellulosic nanomaterials offer the promise of not only advanced green products for a more sustainable future but they do so while putting Americans to work in family-wage jobs at the same time that we advance the health and vitality of forests.”

P3Nano had previously awarded its foundational grant focusing on the environmental health and safety of cellulosic nanomaterials ensuring that priority one is the understanding of the environmental impacts and public safety.

The P3Nano (P3NANO) partnership does not seem to have its own website but there is this webpage on the US Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc.

One final comment, I’m surprised this initiative didn’t make the list published by the US White House of its new initiatives to commercialize nanotechnology (see my May 27, 2015 post for a full list).