title: Effect assessment of engineered nanoparticles in solid media - Current insight and the way forward.
abstract: Engineered Nanoparticles (ENPs) present novel/added challenges to the established effect assessment modus operandi, requiring an update of used methods. ENPs are dimensionally and physically different from conventional chemicals, which imply that the metrics with which we relate effect and the type of effect responses are different from that of the conventional approach. Effects on organisms are often preceded by changes on the sub-organismal level (cell, genes), dedicated tools have vast potential to detect earlier (and link to) effects on higher levels of organization. High-throughput screening (HTS) is rapid, cost-effective and specific. One way forward is to link HTS to population outcomes, targeting a systems toxicology approach. Although the benefits of integrating various levels of information may seem obvious, this is an even more decisive aspect when rapid answers are needed for ENPs. Here we rank the available tools/methods, highlight main study gaps and list priority needs and the way forward.
authors.affiliation: University of Aveiro, Department of Biology & CESAM, Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: mjamorim@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Mónica J B
authors.initials: MJB
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Roca
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsovej 25, PO BOX 314, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Janeck J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Scott-Fordsmand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000737:chemistry; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Adverse outcome pathway (AOP); Biostatistics; High content analysis (HCA); High-effect screening (HES); High-throughput screening (HTS); Safety; Systems toxicology