Hjem
Institutt for biomedisin

BBB seminar: Mihaela Roxana Cimpan

Nanotoxicology: current status and challenges

Hovedinnhold

Mihaela Roxana Cimpan
Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Bergen    

Nanotechnology is rapidly advancing and growing numbers of engineered nanomaterials with increased complexity are being produced. Nanomaterials have unique properties that set them apart from bulk materials and “ordinary” chemicals, which require the development of appropriate methods for nanotoxicity assessment that are reliable, time- and cost-efficient, in vivo-relevant and with regulatory application. To support the development of nanotechnology and mitigate possible safety risks, EU and OECD states are placing an increased focus on the assessment of potential environmental and health risks of nanomaterials. However, so far, the hazard assessment has been hampered by results that are difficult to compare and oftentimes contradictory. Some of the key factors that determine these inconsistencies, as well as the regulatory challenges, will be discussed. An overview of existing methods, with special focus on high-throughput methods and their advantages and disadvantages will be given. The work of the Nanotoxicology group, which is part of the Biomaterials Cluster, on the biological effects of nanomaterials and label-free method development will be presented.

Chairperson: Ellen Berggreen, Department of Biomedicine