Loading

May 2011

ISO guidelines for evaluating nanomaterial risks – are they any good?

May 27, 2011

In June 2005, the chairman and CEO of DuPont, together with the President of the Environmental Defense Fund, co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “Let’s Get nanotech Right”. The piece called for broad multi-stakeholder collaborations to help identify and address potential health, safety and environmental issues arising from the development and commercialization [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Australian Education Union advises against using nanoparticle-based sunscreens in schools

May 23, 2011

Last week, the Victoria branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) passed a resolution recommending that “workplaces use only nanoparticle-free sunscreen” and that sunscreens used by members on children are selected from those “highlighted in the Safe Sunshine Guide produced by Friends of the Earth” as being nano-free. The AEU also resolved to provide the [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Zombie Apocalypse: A Thinking Man's Response

May 21, 2011

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been in the news recently after their blog post recommendations for emergency preparedness, described as a means of surviving a zombie apocalypse.  This started me thinking.  What if Night of the Living Dead or I Am Legend actually occurred?  I am hoping that you have spent [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Jitters and Stained Teeth, but Cancer-Free? Some Surprising Effects of Coffee Consumption

May 20, 2011

The fact that phrases like “guilty pleasure” and “too much of a good thing” are so ubiquitous in the contemporary American vocabulary suggests a significant truth about our collective cultural psyche:  we know—even if we don’t always accept—that even pleasant things can have negative consequences when consumed immoderately. Flying in the face of this conventional [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Vaccine Risk Communication in the Context of Web 2.0: Respecting the Power of Stories

May 19, 2011

I just returned from an interesting small-group conference on discussions of vaccination risk in the era of Web 2.0 (full program is here). The conference was sponsored by the Center for Empirical Research in Economics and Behavioral Sciences (CEREB) at the University of Erfurt in Germany and partially funded by the European Center for Disease [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

University of Michigan Q&A on the Gulf oil Spill – Ask M

May 18, 2011

Now that the University of Michigan Ask M video has been posted addressing questions on last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill (see previous blog post), I thought it might be worth posting my crib notes for the video here. These are a little “raw”, but they do include a little more information that ended [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

New "AskM" Video Response by Andrew Maynard

May 18, 2011

Last week Andrew Maynard was featured on the University of Michigan’s new “AskM” series, inviting you to ask questions about the Gulf oil spill last year.  Check out Andrew’s response to your questions in the new video [below].  Join in the conversation and post a response to the video on facebook. AskM is a new, interactive [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

A plug for the 2011 Risk Science Symposium: Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation

May 16, 2011

Registration is now open for the 2011 Risk Science Symposium, and as I’m chairing it, I thought it worth giving a bit of a plug here. The symposium brings together a fantastic cast of experts from very different backgrounds to explore the intersection of technology innovation and human health risk – with the aim of [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Proposed U.S. Chemical Control Legislation: The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011

May 12, 2011

For over 40 years, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has been the main statutory authority by which EPA has regulated the manufacture, import, use, and disposal of chemical substances in the United States.  Lately Congress has been contemplating various revisions to TSCA to address concerns about the adequacy of current chemical control legislation. Last [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Andrew Maynard Answers Questions on the Gulf Oil Spill via UM’s New “Ask M” Series

May 11, 2011

Andrew Maynard appears on the University of Michigan’s new “AskM” series to answer questions about the Gulf Oil Spill that occurred a year ago.  Watch the video [below], post a question, and check back next week for answers in a new video.  ”Ask M” is a new, interactive series featuring University of Michigan experts on topics ranging from [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Optogenetics and mind control – on the borders of the plausible?

May 8, 2011

Cross-posted from 2020 Science Tomorrow, I will be speaking at the Marshal M. Weinberg Seminar on Optogenetic Manipulation of the Brain at the University of Michigan – not a subject I must admit that I am that familiar with. Fortunately, there are other speakers who will be doing much of the heavy-lifting, including Karl Deisseroth [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Summer Vacation: All fun and games?

May 6, 2011

Today, as the Midwest finally began to heat up and the sun peeked out despite an all-evening tornado watch, I studied for my last exam and tried to resist as my thoughts turned to summer. No one’s perfect, and of course I couldn’t help but daydream a bit about weekend barbecues, lessened responsibilities, and the [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

School of Public Health Summer Internships — Video Posting

May 5, 2011

Students at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health complete an internship in the summer between their first and second years in the program.  Students travel far and wide to work on some of the most important issues in public health today.  Take a look at this new video [below] posted by the School of [...]

9 comments Read the full article →