The State of the Art and Challenges of In Vitro Methods for Human Hazard Assessment of Nanomaterials in the Context of Safe-by-Design

Ruijter, Nienke; Soeteman-Hernández, Lya G.; Carrière, Marie; Boyles, Matthew; McLean, Polly; Catalán, Julia; Katsumiti, Alberto; Cabellos, Joan; Delpivo, Camilla; Sánchez Jiménez, Araceli; Candalija, Ana; Rodríguez-Llopis, Isabel; Vázquez-Campos, Socorro; Cassee, Flemming R.; Braakhuis, Hedwig

Abstract

The 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). The goal of SbD hazard testing is identifying hazard warnings in the early stages of innovation. For this purpose, assays should be simple, cost-effective, predictive, robust, and compatible. For several toxicological endpoints, there are indications that commonly used in vitro assays are able to predict hazard warnings. In addition to the evaluation of assays, this review provides insights into the effects of the choice of cell type, exposure and dispersion protocol, and the (in)accurate determination of dose delivered to cells on predictivity. Furthermore, compatibility of assays with challenging advanced materials and NMs released from nano-enabled products (NEPs) during the lifecycle is assessed, as these aspects are crucial for SbD hazard testing. To conclude, hazard screening of NMs is complex and joint efforts between innovators, scientists, and regulators are needed to further improve SbD hazard testing.

Citation

Ruijter, N., Soeteman-Hernández, L. G., Carrière, M., Boyles, M., McLean, P., Catalán, J., Katsumiti, A., Cabellos, J., Delpivo, C., Sánchez Jiménez, A., Candalija, A., Rodríguez-Llopis, I., Vázquez-Campos, S., Cassee, F. R., & Braakhuis, H. (2023). The State of the Art and Challenges of In Vitro Methods for Human Hazard Assessment of Nanomaterials in the Context of Safe-by-Design. Nanomaterials, 13(3), Article 472. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030472

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 24, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 13, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 13, 2023
• Electronic ISSN: 2079-4991
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 472
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030472
• Keywords: nanomaterials; safe-by-design; hazard testing; in vitro methods; SAbyNA; advanced materials