Nanotechnology Lawyer & Attorney : Porter Wright Morris & Arthur : Nanotechnology Law Report - Germanium nanobead image provided by UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy

If you're near Monash University on Friday March 11, you might want to stop by the Monash University Law Chambers (at 472 Bourke Street in Melbourne) to attend the launching party for "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" published by Edward Elgar Publishing - wonder if that means there'll be some "Pomp and CIrcumstance" ?

The International Handbook, edited by

 Graeme A. Hodge, Director, Monash Centre for Regulatory Studies, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia, Diana M. Bowman, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics, Melbourne School for Population Health, University of Melbourne, Australia and Andrew D. Maynard, Director, Risk Science Center, University of Michigan School of Public Health, US

discusses four areas of concern:

Part 1: Concepts and Foundations

Part 2: Framworks for Regulating Nanotechnologies

Part 3: Case Studies in Regulating Nanotechnologies and Nano-Products

Part 4: The Future Regulatory Landscape

Part 5 is a concluding chapter by the three editors referred to above.

John Monica, an attorney and noted author on nanotechnology himself, notes on the back cover of this treatise

`The Handbook's 26 chapters do a remarkable job of capturing the last decade of commentary and policy perspective regarding nano-related environmental health and safety regulatory issues, along with providing some fresh perspectives on where its future might be headed. It is an invaluable primer for those wanting to hear about the issue from some of the most authoritative voices in the area.'
 

To RSVP, please e-mail meli.voursoukis@monash.edu. Please RSVP by Thursday March 3, 2011

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The Center for the Study of Law, Science & Technology, part of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University,  Monash University Law School, and the Institute of Environmental and Energy Law jointly created the Nanotech Regulatory Document Archive in 2009. The archive is a free and easily searchable database of, as the name implies, documents regarding the regulation of nanotechnology, nanomaterials and nanoindustry produced by national and state governments, government agencies, and others throughout the world. Users are supposed to create an account in order to access the documents, which are in PDF formats, however the documents seem to be accessible even without setting up an account. Users may also add documents to the archives collection, which does require registering and setting up an account. Documents can either be accessed via the "Recent Documents" tab at the top of the page, by clicking on one of the countries listed on the left hand side of the page or via the search box

The database will prove useful for various groups, ranging from the general public who are just curious to business people in the nanoindustrial field who want to see what the rules and regulations are in other countries to elected representatives ( or more likely their staffs who would need to do the research in the area) who, inevitably, will be engaged in debates over the writing and enforcement of laws and regulations. Corporate Counsels  for nanotech companies and outside counsels may also find it a useful place to do research for their clients who are thinking of expanding into other countries and need to see what regulations are already in place.

The database was funded by a multi-year grant from the US Department of Energy. Due to its relatively recent establishment, there are a limited number of documents available, but I suspect that as word of it gets around and more people realize its usefulness, the database will grow.

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