Today, the Silver
Institute and the Silver Research Consortium announced the formation of
the Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG). The SNWG is an industry effort
intended to foster the collection of data on silver nanotechnology in order
to advance the science and public understanding of the beneficial uses of silver
nanoparticles in a wide-range of consumer and industrial products.
The formation of the group is a result of regulatory challenges some companies
are facing in registering new products containing silver nanoparticles. The
main purpose of the SNWG is to allow industry participants to share environmental
and human health information on their respective nanosilver products and processes,
including research, findings, and other data that can be combined into a summarized
format. This aggregated information can then be used by individual SNWG members
for their registrations of silver nano products with regulatory agencies, to
provide technical assistance to ongoing federal programs in nanotechnology,
and put to rest unsubstantiated claims about products containing silver nanoparticles.
"We are pleased that four companies, Servicios Industriales Peñoles
S.A. de C.V., Bayer MaterialScience, LLC, NanoHorizons, Inc., and BYK Chemie,
GmbH, have joined as the initial members of the SNWG. Many other companies have
expressed interest in our work, and we expect to announce new members to the
group in the near future," said Rosalind Volpe, Executive Director of the
SNWG.
"Silver is perhaps the oldest known antimicrobial agent, and nanoscale
use of silver is the latest chapter. Our intention in launching the SNWG is
to provide both industry and regulatory agencies with needed information as
companies work through the required regulatory framework to bring silver nanoparticles
and products containing silver nanoparticles to market," said Michael DiRienzo,
Executive Director of the Silver Institute. “At the end of the day, we
want companies to comply with existing law, but we also want a level playing
field and the ability to submit scientific data to the decision makers and ensure
that it is considered,” DiRienzo added.
The SNWG is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and is operated
under the auspices of the Silver Research Consortium, a research program funded
by the silver industry.
The Silver Institute is an international industry association, which serves
as the silver industry’s voice in increasing public understanding of the
many uses and value of silver.
Posted April 2nd, 2009
