Physico-Chemical Properties of Nanomaterials

Richard C. Pleus is founder and managing director of the internationally known toxicology consulting organization Intertox, Inc., Seattle, USA. He obtained his BS in physiology in 1977 from Michigan State University, USA, and his MS in environmental health and PhD in environmental toxicology in 1983 and 1991, respectively, from the University of Minnesota, USA. Dr. Pleus is a leader on nanotechnology safety, on which he has advised the U.S.–Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission on Science and Technology, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and NIOSH. Since 2004, he is an ad hoc science review board member of the EPA and since 2010 a member of the board of directors for the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA), Brussels, Belgium, and chair of the Science Advisory Board, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NBIB), Maryland, USA. His fields of expertise include general toxicology, pharmacology, and toxicological risk assessment.

Vladimir Murashov is senior scientist at the Office of the Director, NIOSH, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington, DC. He obtained his BSc and MSc in chemistry in 1991 and 1993, respectively, from the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology, Moscow, and his PhD in chemistry in 1998 from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. He is a globally recognized expert in nanotechnology safety and other emerging technologies and leads nanotechnology safety groups in the ISO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Health Organization (WHO).