Atlanta Fire Department crews  responded Wednesday morning to an alarm and possible chemical leak on the Georgia Tech campus.

The incident took place at the Nanotechnology Research Center, 791 Atlantic Drive near Ferst Drive.

“We put an initial entry team in there to see if there was a leak that was detected in the sensors,” Atlanta fire Assistant Chief Ken Byers told the AJC.

“Our monitors did not pick up any chemical whatsoever and we returned the building back to Georgia Tech engineers,” he said. “When the detectors go off, we treat it as a hazmat incident and we respond.”

Three students were treated on the scene as a precaution. The building was not evacuated.

(Nanowerk Spotlight) In a previous Nanowerk Spotlight from last year ("Questionable safety practices in nanotechnology labs around the world") we showed that the nanotechnology research community does not exactly appear to be at the forefront when it comes to following, not to mention setting, standards for safe practices for handling nanomaterials. One of the most surprising results was that nearly three quarters of respondents reported not having internal rules to follow regarding the handling nanomaterials – approximately half of them didn't have rules and over a quarter were not aware of any internal regulations.
Researchers at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland have now taken the initiative and presented a practical, user-friendly procedure for a university-wide safety and health management of nanomaterials, developed as a multi-stakeholder effort (government, accident insurance, researchers and experts for occupational safety and health).

Working with nanomaterials


As nanotechnology marches from the boundaries of laboratories to the home of a consumer, safety concerns should not be overshadowed by the success of the technology. A recent review article by Joseph H. Lavoie, a chemical engineer at the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, tackles the safety concerns of nanomaterials in manufacturing and consumer products (Proc. Saf. Prog., DOI: 10.1002/prs.10388).

Back in the mists of time, I was approached with a crazy proposition – would I help co-edit a book on nanotechnologies regulation! In a moment of weakness I said yes, and a little more than two and a half years later, the book is finally about to hit the shelves.

I actually think the resulting International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies rather a useful, coherent and engaging collection of chapters – my co-editors Di Bowman and Graeme Hodge did a wonderful job encouraging a bunch of top thinkers in the field to write under occasionally whimsical but always relevant titles.

To whet your appetite prior to the book’s release sometime in November, here’s a sneak peak at the contents:


Read more: http://2020science.org/2010/11/04/international-handbook-on-regulating-nanotechnologies-sneak-peak-of-contents/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+2020Science+%282020+Science%29#ixzz14POziwkj