This paper presents a large-scale collaborative effort within a multi-partner consortium, to systematically structure, curate, and openly share data in alignment with the FAIR principles. The data result from a case study of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanomaterials (NMs) for photocatalytic depolluting surfaces, produced via various spray coating techniques under the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach. The data are publicly available through a dedicated Zenodo community (https://zenodo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is an increasing need for new approach methodologies (NAMs) for safety assessment of nanomaterials (NMs) in order to keep pace with innovation. In vitro assays are useful tools during pre-market hazard screening approaches of NMs to prioritize safe(r) candidate NMs and reduce the amount of regulatory testing required. For pre-regulatory hazard screening applications, it is crucial that in vitro assays have the capacity to distinguish between NMs based on their hazard potency and have the ability to provide accurate hazard rankings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) concept facilitates the design of safer and more sustainable chemicals and materials and is a crucial approach towards reaching the goals set out in the European Green Deal. It is critical that suitable guidance is provided on how to use new approach methodologies (NAMs) to fill hazard data gaps for nanomaterials (NMs) to facilitate SSbD decisions. Here, we showcase a nano-specific in vitro SSbD case study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcotoxicol Environ Saf
March 2025
The increasing use of plastic polymers in 3D printing applications may lead to human exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPLs), raising concerns regarding adverse health consequences such as cancer induction. Little attention has been given to MNPLs originated at the end of the life cycle of 3D-printed objects because of the mechanical and environmental degradation of plastic waste. This study assessed the carcinogenic potential of secondary MNPLs generated through cryomilling of 3D objects using the validated in vitro Bhas 42 cell transformation assay (CTA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Struct Biotechnol J
December 2024
This report, the second of its kind from ASINA project, aims at providing a roadmap with quantitative metrics for Safe(r) and (more) Sustainable by Design (SSbD) solutions for titanium dioxide (TiO) nanomaterials (NMs). We begin with a brief description of ASINA's methodology across the product lifecycle, highlighting the quantitative elements, such as the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We then propose a decision support tool for implementing SSbD objectives across various dimensions-functionality, cost, environment, and human health safety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Struct Biotechnol J
December 2024
This report demonstrates a case study within the ASINA project, aimed at instantiating a roadmap with quantitative metrics for Safe(r) and (more) Sustainable by Design (SSbD) options. We begin with a description of ASINA's methodology across the product lifecycle, outlining the quantitative elements within: Physical-Chemical Features (PCFs), Key Decision Factors (KDFs), and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Subsequently, we delve in a proposed decision support tool for implementing the SSbD objectives across various dimensions-functionality, cost, environment, and human health safety-within a broader European context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of Safe-by-Design (SbD) is to support the development of safer products and production processes, and enable safe use throughout a materials' life cycle; an intervention at an early stage of innovation can greatly benefit industry by reducing costs associated with the development of products later found to elicit harmful effects. Early hazard screening can support this process, and is needed for all of the expected nanomaterial exposure routes, including inhalation, ingestion and dermal. In this study, we compare in vitro and ex vivo cell models that represent dermal exposures (including HaCaT cells, primary keratinocytes, and reconstructed human epidermis (RhE)), and when possible consider these in the context of regulatory accepted OECD TG for in vitro dermal irritation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Perinatal exposure to titanium dioxide (TiO), as a foodborne particle, may influence the intestinal barrier function and the susceptibility to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) later in life. Here, we investigate the impact of perinatal foodborne TiO exposure on the intestinal mucosal function and the susceptibility to develop IBD-associated colitis. Pregnant and lactating mother mice were exposed to TiO until pups weaning and the gut microbiota and intestinal barrier function of their offspring was assessed at day 30 post-birth (weaning) and at adult age (50 days).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLipoParticles, core-shell assemblies consisting of a polymer core coated by a lipid membrane, are promising carriers for drug delivery applications with intracellular targets. This is of great interest since it is actually challenging to treat infections involving intracellular bacteria such as bone and joint infections where the bacteria are hidden in osteoblast cells. The present work reports for the first time to the best of our knowledge the proof of enhanced internalization of particles in osteoblast cells thanks to a lipid coating of particles (= LipoParticles).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxicity evaluation of engineered nanomaterials is challenging due to the ever increasing number of materials and because nanomaterials (NMs) frequently interfere with commonly used assays. Hence, there is a need for robust, high-throughput assays with which to assess their hazard potential. The present study aimed at evaluating the applicability of a genotoxicity assay based on the immunostaining and foci counting of the DNA repair protein 53BP1 (p53-binding protein 1), in a high-throughput format, for NM genotoxicity assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxics
February 2023
The widespread use of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in food and consumer products suggests the relevance of human oral exposure to these nanomaterials (NMs) and raises the possibility of adverse effects in the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to investigate the toxicity of Ag NPs in a human intestinal cell line, either uncoated or coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (Ag PVP) or hydroxyethylcellulose (Ag HEC) and digested in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Physicochemical transformations of Ag NPs during the different stages of digestion were identified prior to toxicity assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current European (EU) policies, that is, the Green Deal, envisage safe and sustainable practices for chemicals, which include nanoforms (NFs), at the earliest stages of innovation. A theoretically safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) framework has been established from EU collaborative efforts toward the definition of quantitative criteria in each SSbD dimension, namely, the human and environmental safety dimension and the environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions. In this study, we target the safety dimension, and we demonstrate the journey toward quantitative intrinsic hazard criteria derived from findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSilver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are among the most widely used metal-based nanomaterials (NMs) and their applications in different products, also as antibacterial additives, are increasing. In the present manuscript, according to an adverse outcome pathway (AOP) approach, we tested two safe-by-design (SbD) newly developed Ag NPs coated with hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), namely AgHEC powder and AgHEC solution. These novel Ag NPs were compared to two reference Ag NPs (naked and coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone-PVP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Safe-by-Design (SbD) concept aims to facilitate the development of safer materials/products, safer production, and safer use and end-of-life by performing timely SbD interventions to reduce hazard, exposure, or both. Early hazard screening is a crucial first step in this process. In this review, for the first time, commonly used in vitro assays are evaluated for their suitability for SbD hazard testing of nanomaterials (NMs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) are conceptual frameworks that organize knowledge about biological interactions and toxicity mechanisms. They present a sequence of events commencing with initial interaction(s) of a stressor, which defines the perturbation in a biological system (molecular initiating event, MIE), and a dependent series of key events (KEs), ending with an adverse outcome (AO). AOPs have recently become the subject of intense studies in a view to better understand the mechanisms of nanomaterial (NM) toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we describe the design and the characterization of novel electrode materials consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes coated with glyconanoparticles (GNPs) functionalized with anthraquinone sulfonate. The resulting modified electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Their electrochemical behavior reveals a stable pH-dependent redox signal characteristic of anthraquinone sulfonate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomed Opt Express
October 2022
In this article, we are presenting an original selective plane illumination fluorescence microscope dedicated to image "Organ-on-chip"-like biostructures in microfluidic chips. In order to be able to morphologically analyze volumetric samples in development at the cellular scale inside microfluidic chambers, the setup presents a compromise between relatively large field of view (∼ 200 µm) and moderate resolution (∼ 5 µm). The microscope is based on a simple design, built around the chip and its microfluidic environment to allow 3D imaging inside the chip.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuantum dots (QDs) are widely used in optoelectronics, lighting, and photovoltaics leading to their potential release into the environment. The most promising alternative to the highly toxic cadmium selenide (CdSe) QDs are indium phosphide (InP) QDs, which show reduced toxicity and comparable optical and electronic properties. QD degradation leads to the release of toxic metal ions into the environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEngineered nanomaterials have been found to induce oxidative stress. Cellular oxidative stress, in turn, can result in the induction of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes which are controlled by the nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) transcription factor. Here, we present the results of a pre-validation study which was conducted within the frame of BIORIMA ("biomaterial risk management") an EU-funded research and innovation project.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes is a major global health threat. Both academics and industry are striving to develop effective treatments for this disease. In this work, we present a new approach to induce insulin release from β-islet pancreatic cells (INS-1E) by mechanical stimulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPigments are among the oldest nanoparticulate products known to mankind, and their use in tattoos is also very old. Nowadays, 25% of American people aged 18 to 50 are tattooed, which poses the question of the delayed effects of tattoos. In this article, we investigated three cobalt [Pigment Violet 14 (purple color)] or cobalt alloy pigments [Pigment Blue 28 (blue color), Pigment Green 14 (green color)], and one zinc pigment [Pigment White 4 (white color)] which constitute a wide range of colors found in tattoos.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPart Fibre Toxicol
July 2022
Background: The widespread use of nano-biomaterials (NBMs) has increased the chance of human exposure. Although ingestion is one of the major routes of exposure to NBMs, it is not thoroughly studied to date. NBMs are expected to be dramatically modified following the transit into the oral-gastric-intestinal (OGI) tract.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuantum dots (QDs) are colloidal fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals with exceptional optical properties. Their widespread use, particularly in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), displays, and photovoltaics, is questioning their potential toxicity. The most widely used QDs are CdSe and CdTe QDs, but due to the toxicity of cadmium (Cd), their use in electrical and electronic equipment is now restricted in the European Union through the Restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) directive.
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