Swansea University leads international project to cut the risk of engineered nanomaterials
A new €12.7m global project led by Swansea University Medical School will address the need for safer and more effective testing of nanomaterials, an area that is of crucial and growing importance to billion-pound markets including cosmetics, electronics, medicine and food.
Exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENM) poses a risk to human and environmental health. However, at present, the test methods used to assess this risk are inadequate and unrealistic. Current test systems utilise scientific models that lack the detail and complexity of the environment and the human body, and only consider the effects of short-term ENM exposure which does not reflect realistic extended or repeated exposure scenarios.
The Physiologically Anchored Tools for Realistic nanOmateriaL hazard aSsessment (PATROLS) project involves 24 partners, across Europe, the USA and Asia. The scientists aim over the next 3.5 years to establish and standardise a battery of innovative, next-generation safety testing tools that more accurately predict adverse effects caused by long-term ENM exposure in humans and the environment.