title: Towards sensible toxicity testing for nanomaterials: proposal for the specification of test design.
abstract: During the last decade, nanomaterials (NM) were extensively tested for potential harmful effects towards humans and environmental organisms. However, a sound hazard assessment was so far hampered by uncertainties and a low comparability of test results. The reason for the low comparability is a high variation in the (1) type of NM tested with regard to raw material, size and shape and (2) procedures before and during the toxicity testing. This calls for tailored, nanomaterial-specific protocols. Here, a structured approach is proposed, intended to lead to test protocols not only tailored to specific types of nanomaterials, but also to respective test system for toxicity testing. There are existing standards on single procedures involving nanomaterials, however, not all relevant procedures are covered by standards. Hence, our approach offers a detailed way of weighting several plausible alternatives for e.g. sample preparation, in order to decide on the procedure most meaningful for a specific nanomaterial and toxicity test. A framework of several decision trees (DT) and flow charts to support testing of NM is proposed as a basis for further refinement and in-depth elaboration. DT and flow charts were drafted for (1) general procedure-physicochemical characterisation, (2) choice of test media, (3) decision on test scenario and application of NM to liquid media, (4) application of NM to the gas phase, (5) application of NM to soil and sediments, (6) dose metrics, (S1) definition of a nanomaterial, and (S2) dissolution. The applicability of the proposed approach was surveyed by using experimental data retrieved from studies on nanoscale CuO. This survey demonstrated the DT and flow charts to be a convenient tool to systematically decide upon test procedures and processes, and hence pose an important step towards harmonisation of NM testing.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, Winterbergstrasse 28, D-01277 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Annegret
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Potthoff
authors.affiliation: ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Boettgerstrasse 2-14, D-65439 Floersheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weil
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, Winterbergstrasse 28, D-01277 Dresden, Germany; Present address: Institut für Korrosionsschutz Dresden GmbH, Gostritzer Strasse 65, D-01217 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meißner
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Dept. Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology, Permoserstrasse 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kühnel
keywords: decision support; engineered nanomaterials; harmonization; hazard assessment; physical-chemical characterisation; toxicity test design