Nanomaterial grouping : Existing approaches and future recommendations

Anna Giusti (1) , Rambabu Atluri (2) , Rositsa Tsekovska (3) , Agnieszka Gajewicz (4) , Margarita D. Apostolova (3) , Chiara L. Battistelli (5) , Eric A.J. Bleeker (6) , Cecilia Bossa (5) , Jacques Bouillard (7) , Maria Dusinska (8) , Paloma Gomez-Fernandez , Roland Grafstrom (9) , Maciej Gromelski (4) , Yordan Handzhiyski (3) , Nicklas Raun Jacobsen (2) , Paula Jantunen (10) , Keld Alstrup Jensen (2) , Agnieszka Mech (10) , José Maria Navas (11) , Penny Nymark (12) , Agnes G. Oomen (6) , Tomasz Puzyn (4) , Kirsten Rasmussen (10) , Christian Riebeling (1) , Isabel Rodriguez-Llopis , Stefania Sabella (13) , Juan Riego Sintes (10) , Blanca Suarez-Merino (14, 15) , Speranta Tanasescu (16) , Hakan Wallin (2, 17) , Andrea Haase (1)

1 BfR - Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung - Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
2 NRCWE - National Research Centre for the Working Environment
3 BAS - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
4 UG - University of Gdańsk
5 ISS - Istituto Superiore di Sanità = National Institute of Health
6 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
7 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
8 NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research
9 Institute of Environmental Medecine
10 JRC - European Commission - Joint Research Centre [Ispra]
11 INIA - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria = National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology
12 Karolinska Institute
13 IIT - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
14 TEMAS AG
15 Unibas - Université de Bâle = University of Basel = Basel Universität
16 ICF - Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu” Romanian Academy
17 STAMI - National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI)

The physico-chemical properties of manufactured nanomaterials (NMs) can be fine-tuned to obtain different functionalities addressing the needs of specific industrial applications. The physico-chemical properties of NMs also drive their biological interactions. Accordingly, each NM requires an adequate physico-chemical characterization and potentially an extensive and time-consuming (eco)toxicological assessment, depending on regulatory requirements. Grouping and read-across approaches, which have already been established for chemicals in general, are based on similarity between substances and can be used to fill data gaps without performing additional testing. Available data on “source” chemicals are thus used to predict the fate, toxicokinetics and/or (eco)toxicity of structurally similar “target” chemical(s). For NMs similar approaches are only beginning to emerge and several challenges remain, including the identification of the most relevant physico-chemical properties for supporting the claim of similarity. In general, NMs require additional parameters for a proper physico-chemical description. Furthermore, some parameters change during a NM's life cycle, suggesting that also the toxicological profile may change. This paper compares existing concepts for NM grouping, considering their underlying basic principles and criteria as well as their applicability for regulatory and other purposes. Perspectives and recommendations based on experiences obtained during the EU Horizon 2020 project NanoReg2 are presented. These include, for instance, the importance of harmonized data storage systems, the application of harmonized scoring systems for comparing biological responses, and the use of high-throughput and other screening approaches. We also include references to other ongoing EU projects addressing some of these challenges.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Anna Giusti, Rambabu Atluri, Rositsa Tsekovska, Agnieszka Gajewicz, Margarita D. Apostolova, et al.. Nanomaterial grouping : Existing approaches and future recommendations. NanoImpact, 2019, 16, pp.art. 100182. ⟨10.1016/j.impact.2019.100182⟩. ⟨ineris-03319071⟩