NANOCARE: Development of Inhalation Toxicity Model for Testing of Nanomaterials

Project Information

Principal Investigator	Harald Krug
Institution
Project URL	View
Relevance to Implications	High
Class of Nanomaterial	Engineered Nanomaterials
Impact Sector	Human Health
Broad Research Categories	Hazard Generation, Dispersion, Transformation etc. Characterization Risk Assessment
NNI identifier

Funding Information

Country	Germany
Anticipated Total Funding	n/a
Annual Funding	n/a
Funding Source	German Government
Funding Mechanism	Extramural
Funding Sector	Government
Start Year
Anticipated End Year

Abstract/Summary

Nanotechnology is a future technology with visions, but additionally there might be adverse effects of this technology on environment and health. As nanosciences and nanotechnology provide access to the world of the smallest even the manipulation of atoms the NanoCare project focuses on the possible impact of nanomaterials on humans at the work place or consumers.

Thirteen companies, universities and research institutes are contributing their expertise to this partnership. They work together to develop generally accepted measuring and test methods that can be utilized to analyze the safety issues relating to nanomaterials. The project partners also intend to create new nanoparticles and use model systems to analyze their effects on human health. The expertise of the partners from industry will play a crucial role in characterizing the physical and chemical properties of the chosen materials. Moreover, they will provide their experience with animal studies to evaluate the data acquired in the labs from different universities and institutes of toxicology by in vitro experiments. These in vitro studies will systematically investigate the biological mechanisms of nanoparticles and the dependency on their size, form, zeta potential and other important properties. All data created within the NanoCare project consortium will be interpreted together with information from the literature and then presented in a data base on the world wide web. By this NanoCare wants to provide information for all stakeholders as well as for the public on possible risks of nanomaterials to achieve a general acceptance for nanotechnology via a better understanding of their benefits and the assessment of associated negative effects.

The work plan of the NanoCare project is divided into three different parts: (1) the generation, (2) the management, and (3) the transfer of knowledge. The results prepared in the labs of all partners on particle properties and the correlated hazard in vitro and in vivo will be integrated into the knowledge portal. After an intense internal discussion the NanoCare consortium will provide these data for the public, politicians, NGOs and all others for further communication events. This open dialogue on the possible risks of nanotechnology, or better nanoparticles, is a fundamental element of the project which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany (BMBF). Together with two other projects (INOS and Tracer) these three initiatives will help to standardize the analytical procedures and will substantially increase the knowledge about biological activities of nanomaterials.