April 2010

The Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology will hold its fourth annual symposium, “Environmental and Health Impacts of Engineered Nanomaterials,” on Thursday, April 29, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

This year’s symposium brings together faculty experts engaged in various aspects of nanotechnology risk assessment and management research.
Jonathan Links, an INBT-affiliated professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, assembled the slate of speakers from across four divisions of the university. Links said that this diversity reflects the multidisciplinary approach needed to effectively address questions of how nanomaterials move through and interact with the environment, and how they may impact biological organisms, including humans. read more

On March 30, 2010, the Lexington Insurance Company, Boston, MA, introduced LexNanoShield, an insurance product aimed at those firms whose principal business is manufacturing nanoparticles or nanomaterials, or using such substances in their processes.

Tom McLaughlin, Lexington's Senior Vice President of Specialty Casualty, says "[T]he enhanced reactivity of materials on the nanoscale has led to sunscreens you can't see, clothes that don't wrinkle, and paint coatings that don't scratch. Because many of these products and others like them are relatively new, they require unique coverage and service. LexNanoShield can help insureds assess and manage these new nanotechnology exposures." read more