NSF and EPA Establish Two Centers for Environmental Implications
of Nanotechnology Centers will focus on environmental effects of
nanotechnology and its applications CEIN scientists will study
areas like Montana's Berkeley Pit, contaminated by mineral
nanoparticles. September 17, 2008 The National Science
Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) have made awards to establish two Centers for the
Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). The
centers, led by UCLA and Duke University, will study how
nanomaterials interact with the environment and with living
systems, and will translate this knowledge into risk assessment
and mitigation strategies useful in the development of
nanotechnology. "The new centers will provide national and
international leadership in the emerging field of environmental
nanoscience," said Arden L. Bement, Jr., NSF director. "This is
an important addition to the National Nanotechnology Initiative,
and builds on earlier discoveries on the environmental