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l NanoValid 3rd Newsletter

September 2012

Welcome from the Co‐ordinator

Dear Readers I am happy to provide you with the 3rd Newsletter of the NanoValid project, which is soon reaching the end of the 1st project year. We are highlighting in this issue again some activities run by our partners since the start of the project (November 2011) that may give you an idea of the research we do.

On page 2, Roberto Hanoi from Nanologica AB, leader of WP2 (on selection and manufacturing of test methods and materials), gives a short overview of the supply and types of the 2nd set of test materials selected and to be used by project partners, to compare the performance of the current measurement and testing methodology and to be adapted, modified, further developed and validated (in WP3) as potential candidate(s) for reference methods (in WP6). Angela Ivask from the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB) in Tallinn, Estonia, an‐nounces the presentation of first project results on pc properties and biological effects of silver and silica nanoparti‐cles to bacteria and environmentally relevant non‐vertebrate species at the NECC2012 ‐ Nordic Environmental Chem‐istry Conference", Abo Akademi, Finland, 4‐7 June 2012).

On page 3, Jing Zou and Ilmari Pyykkö from the University of Tampere (UTA) also highlight exciting results received on tracing/imaging the distribution of ENMs in the human inner ear by using a specifically developed micro‐CT technol‐ogy. This new technique will also be applied in the toxicity study of ENMs in animals.

On page 4, a short profile of a PhD student, Steffi Böhme, joining the NanoValid team of Dana Kühnel (leader of WP4 on risk assessment) at the Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), is given, together with a short descrip‐tion of her work planned within NanoValid. Special emphasis is also given on a SOP template developed by the DaNa project for methods on production, characterization and testing of nanomaterials that can be downloaded from the DaNa website (www.nanopartikel.info) and used by all NanoValid partners to describe standard methods developed within the project.

On page 5, the University of Namur (FUNDP) team is introduced with the work planned by the new researchers Omar Lozano and Jorge Mejia engaged in NanoValid on the development and validation of methods for nanoparticle (NP) quantification and size separation/distribution in complex media by means of ion beam accelerator “ALTAÏS” and by PIXE (Particle‐Induced X‐ray Emission), as well as CLS (Centrifugal Liquid Sedimentation) for dispersed NPs.

On page 6, Miriam Baron from the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) reports on the drafting of a Guidance Document for safe handling of nanomaterials, which will be discussed, evaluated and further developed during a workshop held at BAUA in Berlin, 27‐28 November 2012, to ensure occupational safety in all par‐ticipating laboratories (see page 8 and: www.nanovalid.eu).

Further on, the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE) outlines the work planned by a case study in WP6 on the assessment and management of a massive accidental release of ENPs, including an indus‐trial accident situation and accidental risks associated with the transport of nanomaterials. Further to this topic, the NanoValid team of the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR) describes two accident scenarios on page 7. NanoValid will closely cooperate with MARINA on this particular issue. Also on page 7 we report on an upcoming EU‐US workshop on convergence, research, governance and innovation taking place on 20‐21 September 2012 at IMEC, Leuven, Belgium, where NanoValid will be represented by Ilmari Pyykkö (UTA) and Albert Duschl (PLUS), to assess the progress of con‐verging nano‐bio‐info‐cognitive science and technology fields, to identify and evaluate short and long term trends in the delivery of responsible innovation and good governance tools to industry and society.

Finally, on pages 8‐11 you will find more news on forthcoming events that emphasize the exciting field of interaction between nanotechnology and nanosafety research, and new innovations.

I sincerely hope that you again find some interesting topics in this Newsletter that you find stimulating and a source of inspiration for your own research.

Best wishes,

Rudolf Reuther

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NanoValid Project News

News from Nanologica by Roberto Hanoi Labrador Nanovalid: 2nd set of materials As part of the agreements made during the Second consortium meeting in Copenhagen in May, and after conclud‐ing the distribution and partial testing of the first set of materials, Nanovalid is ready to distribute the second set of nanomaterials, to be apportioned out and tested during the next six months. The set includes nanoparticles of gold, titanium dioxide and carbon nanotubes. Following the plan, the prototypes of gold and titanium dioxide are being produced in‐house. The Au NPs are pro‐duced by the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Quality Control of Brasil (INMETRO). According to Jose Mauro Granjeiro, INMETRO has established a synthesis protocol to produce 250 ml of Au NPs´s well repro‐ducible dispersions. The TiO2 nanoparticles are being produced in the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology of India (CCMB). In or‐der to cover the materials project demand, Nanovalid´s participants Mr. Marshal and Shashi Singh have developed protocols for scaling up the synthesis of titania able to produce 10‐15 grams per batch. The third material included in the set contains multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) which have been purchased from Nanocyl. The purchased prototype belongs to the serie NC‐7000 and has been previously tested in Nanosus‐tain. According to Roberto Hanoi Labrador (Nanologica, WP2‐L), the complete set of materials is estimated to be distrib‐uted in the last week of September. Preliminary pc‐characterization will be carried out on the samples and the first characterization data will be presented in the third consortium meeting, to be held in Berlin in December.

News from National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB) by Angela Ivask Presentation of NanoValid results Anne Kahru (NICPB, partner 16) presented the experimental results that were obtained from the analysis of Nano‐valid nanoparticles (SiO2 and Ag nanoparticles) with a series of ecotoxicological tests in an oral talk "Comparative study of physico‐chemical properties and biological effects of silver and silica nanoparticles to bacteria and envi‐ronmentally relevant non‐vertebrate species", in "NECC2012 ‐ Nordic Environmental Chemistry Conference" that was organized by Abo Akademi and held in Finland (June 4th ‐7th 2012).

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NanoValid Project News

News from the University of Tampere (UTA) by Jing Zou and Ilmari Pyykkö

Within NanoValid, UTA is focusing on in vitro and in vivo studies on effects of nanoparticles on the inner ear as a model organ. The inner ear is an excellent model organ to study inflammatory responses, neuronal toxicity, dam‐ages on sensory organs and changes in membrane permeability. In its most recent developments, in order to trace ENMs in the ear with more details, UTA has developed micro‐CT technology for rat ear imaging at resolution of up to 9 µm/pixel (Figure 1). Using the newly established system, UTA detected distribution of Ag nanomaterials in the ear (Figure 2). The new technique will be applied in the toxic‐ity study of ENMs in animals.

Other UTA News: UTA also had meeting with NICPB in Tallinn on 21st of August to discuss on progress in each lab. Tighter col

laboration will take place between UTA and NICPB.

Based on discussions with project manager Rune Karlsson, UTA will be active in developing the Quality Hand Book (QHB). The QHB will contain all procedures used for pursuing to develop standardized in vitro and in vivo tests.

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Figure 2. Visualization of AgNMs in rat middle ear using µCT.

Figure 1. Demonstration of fine structures of rat cochlea using µCT.

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NanoValid Project News

News from the Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) by Dr Dana Kühnel

New team member : Ph.D. student working within the NanoValid project

In May 2012, Steffi Böhme joined the Nanotoxicology group of Dr. Dana Kühnel at the Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology (Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig). From 2007 to 2012 she studied food chemistry in Halle (Saale), Germany. Besides her studies she worked as student assistant at a nanotechnology company developing and manufacturing nanoscaled aluminium and silicium dioxide products. The aim of her work is the development of a suitable analytical method for the quantification of nanoparticle uptake into environmental organisms, like zebraf‐ish embryo or daphnia. Within the NanoValid project various types of nanoparticles should be examined using analytical techniques, for example ICP‐MS, TXRF or FT‐IR. A special focus lies on the determination and visualization of nanoparticle uptake in different tissue types. Recent publication A new scientific article has been published on toxicological effects of hard metal nanoparticles: Comparative evaluation of particle properties, formation of reactive oxygen species and genotoxic potential of tungsten carbide based nanoparticles in vitro. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389412004736. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volumes 227–228, 15 August 2012, Pages 418‐426. Dana Kühnel, Katja Scheffler, Peggy Wellner, Tobias Meißner, Annegret Potthoff, Wibke Busch, Armin Springer, Kristin Schirmer

SOP Template Developed Within the project DaNa, a standard operation procedure (SOP) template for methods regarding production, charac‐terisation and testing of nanomaterials was developed, which is ready for download on the project web page. The template can be used by all NanoValid partners to describe the standard methods developed within the project. A help sheet to fill in the template is also provided (see screenshot, right). (http://nanopartikel.info/cms/lang/en/Wissensbasis/standardarbeitsanweisungen)

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NanoValid Project News

FUNDP: State of the art methods for nanoparticle physico‐chemical characterization New Nanovalid researchers Omar Lozano and Jorge Mejia (photo) will work on meth‐ods for nanoparticle (NP) quantification and size distribution in complex media (WP3). With the ion beam accelerator ALTAÏS (see photo), NPs in complex media are quanti‐fied by PIXE (Particle‐Induced X‐ray Emission). PIXE offers the advantage of elemental quantification of both the NPs and their media at the same time, in solids (i.e. organs, foods) and liquids (i.e. cell culture media) requiring a minimal preparation. The size distribution of dispersed NPs is assessed by CLS (Centrifugal Liquid Sedimen‐tation). CLS offers two key advantages for particle size distribution analysis: 1) NPs in suspension may or not be stable and 2) a non‐homogeneous NP dispersion (several sizes of primary particles and agglomerates) can be measured precisely due to the particle size separation inherent to the use of a centrifuge technique. An example of the use these methodologies on NPs quantification and their interaction in aqueous food matrices is reported in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 403, p. 2835‐2841 (2012).

Photo: The FUNDP physics team working on nanotechnology, posing on the beam lines of the ALTAÏS particle accelerator. From left to right: Julien Demarche, Nicolas Moreau, Stéphane Lucas (P.I.), Jorge Mejia (NanoValid), María del Carmen López‐Santos, Omar Lozano (NanoValid).

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NanoValid Project News

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News from BAUA for Work Package 6

BAUA has produced a draft guidance document about safe handling of nanomate‐rials, in cooperation with NRCWE, CRF and Nanologica AB. It is important that this document is available early on in order to harmonize procedures and to ensure safety in all partner laboratories.

The document has been distributed along with a questionnaire to all partners, which are asked to give feedback on the guidance document before the next workshop at Berlin, 27.‐28. November 2012. The purpose is to ensure that the document is actually useful. This should not just be a deliverable for filing, but should influence practices in the partner laboratories. In order to reach this aim the document needs to be understandable, comprehensive, concise and most importantly, useful! For example, a good document for instructing new workers in the lab can save a lot of time and effort, as well as ensure safe practices.

The guidance document is explicitly a draft document, so it can be amended and improved throughout the lifetime of the project. Improvements need to be based on experiences with the document in different institutions, so it is important that we get feedback from everybody. If the feedback is that all the information is already present and implemented, fine, then we can verify that the document reflects existing best practices – but suggestions for fur‐ther improvements are always welcome.

Workpackage 6—Update from NRCWE

NRCWE is busy coordinating efforts for setting up scenarios for WP6.4, which deals with accidents. Two accident scenarios are envisioned: One industrial accident and one transport accident. This is a very difficult task since accidents are by their very nature rather unpredictable (if you can predict you will prevent).

In addition, very substantial input from industrial cooperation partners is needed to ensure that the scenarios envi‐sioned are realistic. This, however, touches on details which are in many cases confidential within a company, so specifics required to set up the scenarios may be hard to get due to their sensitive nature.

NRCWE has already contacted a num‐ber of relevant companies and sugges‐tions for further contacts are invited. The accidents envisaged here are on a large scale, with massive release of nanoparticles either within a building or in the environment.

MARINA is looking at small scale acci‐dents, which could be described as spills rather than accidents, but we are in contact with our partner project and aim to generate synergies, e.g. consid‐ering comparable types of material.

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NanoValid Project News

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Workpackage 6—Update from NRCWE—continued

UNIZAR has provided a description of the two anticipated accident scenarios: one industrial accident and one transport accident. Regarding the industrial accident, the protocols for analyzing the accident scenario will involve the participation of chemical industries with activity in synthesis, handling and/or management of engineered nanomaterials (ENM). UNIZAR has already contacted different companies for the development of a hazardous op‐eration study (HAZOP) regarding ENMs.

The transport accident is still at an early stage and it needs to be continued with a definition of ENPs and the type of accident considered. In parallel, UNIZAR has started coop‐eration with MARINA through different meetings with the MARINA partners involved in case studies on managing

massive accidental releases of ENMs. The first meeting took place during the Workshop “Safe implementation of nanotechnologies: common challenges” (29‐30.05.2012) in Grenoble, followed by a teleconference with Jacques Bouillard (INERIS) (13.06.2012). A third meeting was hosted by UNIZAR with the participation of A. Sleigh from Leeds University and J. Bouillard and A. Vignes from INERIS (12.07.2012). In this meeting, a joined small scale indus‐trial accident experiment was discussed.

University of Tampere (UTA) and University of Salzburg (PLUS) represent NanoValid Ilmari Pyykkö from UTA and and Albert Duschl from PLUS will be representing NanoValid at the Workshop on Con‐verging Nano‐Bio‐Info‐Cognitive Science and Technology for Responsible Innovation and Society—an EU‐US work‐shop on Convergence, Research, Governance and Innovation taking place 20th—21st September at IMEC, Leuven, Belgium. The proposed workshop is part of an international study coordi‐nated by NSF in collaboration with the EC. Its main goals are to assess the progress of converging nano‐bio‐info‐cognitive sci‐ence and technology (i.e. NBIC) and beyond, by identifying and evaluating short to long term trends and methods and tools to deliver responsible innovation and good governance to industry and society. The participants will prepare presentations and statement pa‐pers on various facets of this subject for presentation at the workshop. This information will help the strategic development of converging technologies including the four foundational tools (NBIC). For more information, see: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/stoa/dv/06a_eu‐us_worksh_leuven_/06a_eu‐us_worksh_leuven_en.pdf,

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News and Events

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BAuA Organises Occupational Safety and Health Workshop

The NanoValid partner BAuA (Federal Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health) is organising a workshop on practical guid‐

ance for the safe use of nanomaterials in Berlin, Germany, on

27‐28 November 2012. The workshop will raise awareness to

OSH experts and other interested persons from research insti‐

tutions, start‐ups, industry, labour inspectorates, etc., who can provide practical experiences in this field.

Within NanoValid, a draft guidance on state of the art of safe handling of nanomaterials at workplaces was

delivered in cooperation with BAuA (DE), NRCWE (DK), CRF (IT) and Nanologica AB (SE). Based on this guid‐

ance, training material shall be generated for persons,who are responsible for implementation of occupational

safety and health issues at a company level, but also for those working in labour inspection.

The workshop addresses the following topics:

Are the recommendations and the level of detail of draft guidance document adequate for practical

use, especially in research institutions and starts‐up with limited access to OSH professionals?

Is there need for additional or less information?

Would a more legally binding character of this recommendation support its practical usefulness?

Which design should be used for the training materials (content, media and language)?

How can dissemination be supported by NanoValid partners and beyond?

Further details (agenda, registration) about this workshop will soon be published on the NanoValid homepage.

www.nanovalid.eu

News and Events

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NanoSustain Autumn School, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

The EU FP7 NanoSustain project (2010‐2013) is organizing an Autumn school on "New methods for nanoparticle characterization", at the Research Center for Microsystems and Nanotechnology of the Kaunas University of Tech‐nology, on 17‐18 September 2012. This training event will focus on emerging new trends in the rapidly growing field of nanoparticle measurement and characterization and is addressing mainly young researchers (PhD students, post‐docs, etc.). It will provide an interactive learning environment with method demonstrations and highlighting best practices and new approaches in the physicochemical characterization/measurement/imaging also in relation to EHS aspects. The Final Programme: Day 1: 17th September, 2012 Venue: Park Inn by Radisson Kaunas Hotel , K. Donelaicio Str. 27, LT‐44240 Kaunas

Day 2: 18th September, 2012 Venue: Research Center for Microsystems and Nanotechnology, Kaunas University of Technology, Student str. 65, LT‐51369,

TIME ITEM PRESENTER(S)

12.00 – 13.00 Registration

13.00 – 13.30 Opening and introduction to the autumn school Valentinas Snitka, RCMN‐KTU, Lithuania

Invited presentations (20 min.) and discussions (10 min.)

13.30 – 14.00 Introduction to Scanning Probe Microscopy and Raman Spectromicroscopy: the state‐of‐the‐art

Valentinas Snitka, RCMN‐KTU, Lithuania

14.00 – 14.30 Some aspects of material characterization through the Nanosustain project

Denys Naumenko, RCMN‐KTU, Lithuania

14.30 – 15.00 Coffee break

15.00 – 15.30 Nanomaterials synthesis and characterization Roberto Hanoi, NLAB, Sweden

15.30 – 16.00 Relationship between material properties and haz‐ards

Ismo Koponen, NRCWE, Denmark

16.00 – 16.30 Classification of cellulose nanofibrils and suitable methods for their characterization

Jari Vartiainen, VTT, Finland

16.30 – 17.00 Coffee break

17.00 – 18.00 Panel discussion All Participants

18.00 – 19.00 Visit to the RCMN‐KTU labs

19.30 – 21.00 All participants: city walk through the old part of Kaunas followed by social dinner.

Training session introducing into Raman and SMP characterization methodology

9.00 – 11.00 Raman and SPM characterization of inorganic materials (nanoparticles, nanotubes)

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 13.30 Raman characterization of biological objects (proteins, tissues)

13.30 – 14.00 Evaluation of results and final discussion

14.00 End of school: Each participant will be given a certificate of attendance from the Kaunas Technical University

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News and Events

International Semiconductor Conference 2012 NanoValid partner IMT (National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies) will organize an international semiconductor conference in Sinaia, Romania, from the 15‐17 October 2012 to provide a forum for scientists and engineers to highlight and discuss latest de‐velopments in the field of micro‐ and nanotechnologies in relation to semiconduc‐tor electronics techniques and applications.

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European Society of Toxicology in Vitro 2012 International Congress (ESTIV2012) Hosted by the Portuguese Toxicology Association (AP Tox) in Lisbon, Portugal, Octo‐ber 16 ‐19, 2012, ESTIV2012 will focus on new developments in toxicity testing and the mechanism of action of chemicals and nanomaterials. Registration closes 1st August 2012 at: http://www.estiv2012.com. Who should attend? Researchers and students, industrial and government profes‐sionals involved in REACH, CLP, Biocides, and Cosmetic Regulations, as well as food and drug safety.

NanoSafety Cluster

EU‐US Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts ‐ A Joint Workshop 2012, 25 ‐ 26 October 2012, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

The "EU‐U.S. Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts ‐ A Joint Workshop 2012" is scheduled to be held on 25–26 Octo‐ber 2012 in Helsinki.

The Workshop is organized by the European Union (European Commission / NanoSafety Cluster) and the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), and it is hosted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (local organizer). The purpose of this second Joint Workshop between the European Union (EU) and the U.S. is to fur‐ther promote and deepen the EU‐U.S. collaboration on nanosafety research. The aim is also to continue develop‐ing the Communities of Research (CoR) and to bring them to a concrete level of organization and activity. This Joint Workshop is aimed at administrators and policy makers, decision makers and scientists from the EU and the U.S.

The next NanoSafety Cluster meeting will be held on Saturday 27th October 2012 (13:00‐16:00) in Helsinki, at the Scandic Hotel Marski. The Strategic Research Agenda will be discussed in the meeting.

For more information: http://us‐eu.org/ For the programme and registration: http://www.ttl.fi/partner/nanoehs_workshop/Sivut/default.aspx

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News and Events

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The 2013 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting The 2013 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting will be held in San Francisco on 1‐5 April 2013. It will include a symposium on Nanotechnology and Sustainability. Among topics that the symposium will cover are green design and recyclability of nanomaterials and devices http://www.mrs.org/s13‐cfp‐z/

The 9th International Nanotechnology Conference on Communication and Cooperation The 9th International Nanotechnology Conference on Communication and Cooperation will be held in Berlin on 14‐17 May 2013. The European Commis‐sion is one of the organizers and leading European, Japanese and US policy makers and technologists will participate. A special session will be organized on the economical and societal implications of nanotechnology.

Nanosafety Workshop at Imagine Nano 2013 The European FP7 project “Health Impact of Engineered Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparti‐cles” (HINAMOX) will organise a workshop on Nano Safety at the ImagineNano Conference to be held in Bilbao, 23‐26 April 2013.

http://www.imaginenano.com/INDUSTRY/Industry_Imaginenano.php?p=IS

NanoFATE (Nanoparticle Fate Assessment and Toxicity in the Environ‐ment) is now entering its third year. Work has progressed well and NanoFATE is now moving from the initial phase of characterizing parti‐cles, their fate and environmental hazard in standard systems to work‐ing in environmentally realistic media and concentrations.

We have also started outreach to a broader range of stakeholders, with a popular science feature article in Interna‐tional Innovation. Our upcoming "plain English" Newsletter will explain the ins and outs of a highly integrative, transdisciplinary research endeavour.

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Introducing the Partners

Nordmiljo (NOMI) NordMiljö AB is the coordinating organisation of NanoValid. The company was established in 2004 and is an international research and consulting expert in the field of environmental assessment of chemicals and products. The staff have long standing experience in the planning, management and implementation of complex projects from various industrial sec‐tors, including the chemical, metal and mining and pulp and paper industry. NordMiljö is a specialist in conducting eco‐toxicological risk analysis to meet regulatory requirements and to improve the environmental performance of industrial processes. Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN) The Institute of Nanotechnology (ION) was established in 1997 (previously the Centre in Scotland for Nanotechnology, founded in 1994). It was one of the world's first nanotechnology information providers, and is now a world leader. It pro‐vides industry and governments with intelligence on nanotechnology and its applications and has produced several im‐portant milestone publications. Early on, the Institute supported the UK Government in the formulation of its policy in nanotechnology in a variety of ways ‐ from undertaking benchmarking exercises to leading fact‐finding Missions to major nanotechnology centres and companies across Europe and in the USA. European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) The mission of the JRC is to provide customer‐driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a refer‐ence centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy‐making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national. It will contribute to the project by validation of measurement, characterization and test methods and development of more suitable methodolo‐gies applicable to nanomaterials to understand the transport and fate of engineered nanomaterials in the environment. Tampereen Yliopisto (UTA) University of Tampere is a State University with a medical school, teaching hospital, good research facilities, and is in‐volved in several EU projects. It houses a modern molecular biological lab, with immunohistochemistry, confocal micros‐copy, Laser captured microdissection system, LightCycler unit, microarray system, sequencing unit, cell sorting machine, Cell IQ for cellular morphological study using artificial intelligence, TEM, animal laboratory with sound proof room and Tucked Davies evoked response equipments for ABR and eABR measurements. In addition, a 4.7 T MRI system for small animals is available. In the project, UTA will focus on in vitro and in vivo studies on effects of engineered nanomaterials on the inner ear as a model organ. The partner will have close collaboration with other in vivo partners in establishing neural repair model to alleviate the possible health hazards caused by accidental exposure to engineered nanomaterials. University of Salzburg (PLUS) The University of Salzburg is a leading institution for research and teaching in Austria, with 19.000 students and 2.300 staff. It had a budget of €130 million in 2010, including a grant income of € 22.8 Mio, of which € 6.4 Mio came from EU projects. Within NanoValid, PLUS will contribute mainly to WP3 as well as to WP6 where PLUS is WP leader. PLUS will in WP3 develop new cell‐based assays for routine measurements of parameters indicating inflammation and cellular stress, two types of responses which are likely to occur as response towards a wide variety of NP if these should be toxic. Lack of response would, on the other hand, strongly suggest that cellular defence systems consider the agent in question as harmless. The methods deriving from WP3 will in WP6 be tested outside of the lab. This will include exposure of cells to collected inpure materials as well as in situ measurements at work place sites. This effort will help do define possibilities and limitations for applying biological methods to on‐site monitoring.

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Universidad de Zaragoza (UNIZAR) UNIZAR has 202 research groups with a total of 2400 researchers. The Nanoporous Films and Particles, (NFP) research group has been officially recognized as a research group of excellence in Aragon. The Nanoscience Institute of Aragon, (INA), of which the NFP is one of the founding groups, is a multidisciplinary research institute devoted to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. INA hosts the National Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (a facility with a variety of advanced instruments, including two UHRTEM Titan Microscopes with sub‐angstrom resolution) and a broad variety of state‐of‐the‐art characterization equipment for hard materials. UNIZAR has considerable experience in a number of areas re‐lated to the NanoValid project: i) risk analysis ii) Nanoparticle synthesis (wet methods, such as co‐precipitation or liquid phase decomposition, dry methods such as laser pyrolysis or arc discharge), iii) nanoparticle functionalization, iv) nano‐materials characterization, v) nanoparticle dynamics (dispersion in controlled atmospheres (using the specific facilities named in the previous paragraph) and labelling. Facultes Universitaires Notre‐Dame de la Paix de Namur (FUNDP) Founded in 1831, the University of Namur (FUNDP) consists of six faculties and research is organized in 105 research units with more than 950 researchers. The University excels in sectors such as nanotechnology and nanotoxicology, biotechnology, physics and surface chemistry. The Namur Nanosafety Center (NNC) which is an interdisciplinary re‐search platform including chemists, physicists, biologists, and pharmacists whose joint effort allowed the development of toxicity assays for nanomaterial (NM) regulatory purposes. The Namur Nanosafety Centre brings an extensive multid‐isciplinary expertise in: Nanomaterial (NM) physicochemical characterisation (pristine forms, dispersions, complex ma‐trices including food); NM fate and biodistribution studies at cellular and organ levels; Assessment of NM potential tox‐icity: in vitro & in vivo testing following OECD guidelines; Metrology, cross validation and standardization of assays for regulatory purposes (validated supplier of EC‐JRC IRMM, expert for OECD WPMN, partner of the QNano infrastructure); Animal whole‐body exposure to standardized airborne nanoaerosols: local and systemic impacts, biopersistence stud‐ies; and Haemocompatibility of NMs. Univerza v Ljubljani (UNI LJ) The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest complete university in Slovenia. It includes 26 member schools of humanistic, social, technical and natural science profiles. Most of them are teaching and research institutions with de‐veloped international cooperation. NanoValid participant no. 6 is the Department of Biology at the Biotechnical Faculty of University of Ljubljana. The department has a staff of 115 employees. Within a chair of zoology a very strong group is working on ecotoxicology, with a main focus on ecotoxicity of metals, pesticides and nanoparticles. The Group will as‐sess the biological potential of different types of selected nanoparticles and those of the same type but different sur‐faces. This data will help to generate a database on hazard properties of selected ENPs. Also, a range of biomarkers will be used for some model organisms (invertebrates) to test nanoecotoxicity. The group will elaborate basic knowledge to suggest best dose metrics for nanoparticles and focus on linking biomarkers at different levels of biological complexity to discern nano‐specific biological effects. University of Birmingham (UB) The University of Birmingham (UB) has approximately 26,000 students and 6,000 staff and is one of the elite UK Russell Group Universities. UB is a large, extensive and highly research active university with significant strengths in nanoscience, human health and environmental science. There is extensive experience in EU projects in these and re‐lated areas such as nano‐bioscience. The School of Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) has 60 aca‐demic staff, 28 technical and support staff and 24 research staff and achieves international excellence in teaching and research as demonstrated in the RAE that showed 95% of research in the School was internationally or globally leading. A particular expertise within GEES is environmental nanoscience, which will feed directly into this project. Prof. Eugenia Valsami‐Jones will be coordinating research for NanoValid at UB. Prof. Valsami‐Jones holds the Chair of Geosystems Nanoscience at UB; prior to this appointment, she led the Nanosciences Group at NHM; she has extensive experience of managing nanosafety projects. In NanoValid the UB team will lead WP3 and participate in WPs 2 and 5, focusing on standardisation and validation of nanoparticle synthesis and characterisation methods. Fraunhofer‐Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung (FhG) The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS covers the complete field of advanced ceramics, from basic research to applications. IKTS will assist to develop and validate methods for physico‐chemical analysis of ENPs in different media for toxicological and ecotoxicological investigations. We will also help to establish reference methods and standard operation procedures for dispersions of ENPs and to organize round‐robin tests for validation.

Introducing the Partners

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Helmholtz‐Zentrum fuer Umweltforschung GmbH (UFZ) The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has around 1,000 employees. They study the complex interac‐tions between humans and the environment in cultivated and damaged landscapes. The group “Nanotoxicology” (Department of Bioanalytical Ecotoxicology) and deals with potential toxic effects of engineered nanoparticles towards environmental organisms. Within NanoValid, we aim to develop a method to identify and quan‐tify uptake of nanomaterials into environmental organisms (WP3) and to develop strategies for risk assessment (Leader of WP4) and will be involved in dissemination activities. Institutul National de Cercetaredezvoltare Pentru Microtechnologie (IMT) IMT‐Bucharest is active in research and development in micro‐ and nano‐biotechnologies, technology transfer, educa‐tion and training, dissemination, development of the national strategy in the field. The research topics in IMT‐Bucharest cover the fields of microstructures and microsystems for sensing and biomedical applications; nanostructured materi‐als, nanotechnologies and nanostructures; microsystems for monitoring the electrical activity of tissues and cells; bio‐sensors; microstructures and MEMS for communications; testing and microphysical characterization; optical sensors, micro fluidics. The activities in nanobiotechnology field, such as microarray technology for biomolecular (proteins and DNA) patterning in microarrays, are developed mostly in the “NanoBioLab” laboratory, located in the clean‐room area. IMT is partner in 6 projects financed by FP7. IMT, beside technological facilities for MEMS/NEMS device fabrication has equipments for nanomaterials characterization and preparation: nanoparticle spectrometer (DelsaNanoC), X‐ray dif‐fraction‐ Smart Lab, SEM‐EDAX, AFM, SECM, Parstat 2273 Impedance spectrometer, Ploter microarray (GeneMachines OmniGrid Micro), Scanner microarray (GeneTAC UC4), Fluorescence spectrometre ( Edinbourg instruments). Det Nationale Forskningscenter Forarbejdsmiljo (NCRWE) NRCWE has a strong focus on health risks related nanotechnology, the aim is to dedicate our resources, using the exist‐ing multi‐disciplinary scientific expertise in the former research groups of physico‐chemical characterisation and toxicol‐ogy. Health risk from occupational exposure to nanoparticles is one of NRCWE’s five strategic research areas. There is currently 30 staff working in the Nanotoxicology group. NRCWE role in NanoValid is in WP4 and WP6; in WP4 as task leaders in hazard identification, and in WP6 we are TL’s in the case study on occupational exposure at industrial manu‐facturing sites. Bundesanstalt fuer Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BauA) The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is a federal institution with tasks in research and development (Governmental research institution) in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH). BAuA is directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and has locations in Dortmund, Berlin, Dresden and Chem‐nitz. In 2011, the annual budget was €50.4 million. The annual budget for research grants initiated and managed by BAuA was approximately €4.3 million. The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has 713 employees. Within NanoValid, the BAuA activities focus on practical solutions for safe handling and use of nanomaterials at work‐places (WP6). BAuA intends to prepare a European Code of Practice for safe handling of nanomaterials based on the chemical agents directive 98/24/EC. The objective is to get consistent and practicable standards for research institu‐tions, start‐ups and small‐and‐medium‐sized companies (SME) to ensure safe handling of nanomaterials in accordance with the EU precautionary principle. The practical solutions will be evaluated in field studies. A training manual is aimed at OSH professionals and shall support the implementation of solutions and standards. Eidgenoessische Anstalt fur Wasserversorgung Abwasserreinigung unde Gewaesserschutz (Eawag) Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally linked aquatic research insti‐tute of about 350 staff members committed to an ecological, economical and socially responsible management of wa‐ter ‐ the primary source of all life. Eawag has identified nanomaterials and nanotoxicology as topics of strategic impor‐tance and dedicates research to ensure development and use of nanotechnology in a sustainable way. Eawag‟s Nano‐Valid responsibilities include the co‐ordination of task WP3.3. Environmental health, and task WP6.3, Case study on environmental behaviour of ENMs. Research will be directed toward 1) understanding of the interactions between sur‐face chemical properties of NPs and experimental media used in OECD and other ecotoxicological tests and 2) develop‐ment of an in vitro testing scheme to assess the bioavailability/persistence and toxicity of NPs to fish based on a multi‐compartment cellular barrier model based on fish cell lines.

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Keemilise ja Bioloogilise Fuusika Instituut (NICPB) NICPB was established at 1980 and is an independent research institution tightly cooperating with Estonian universities. NICPB’s diverse scientific expertise facilitates interdisciplinary studies, e.g., in nanotoxicology. NICPB will contribute to NanoValid with its expertise in medium‐to‐high‐throughput nano(eco)toxicology testing and mechanism‐based toxico‐logical profiling of ENPs. NICPB participates in 4 WPs (WP2‐5 and WP7), coordinates T2.3. and is responsible of T3.2.4. Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und Pruefung (BAM) BAM is the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany. BAM has actively undertaken research in key areas of safety engineering and new analysis and test methods such as energy and environmental protection, mate‐rials engineering and safety engineering for a number of years. BAM nanotechnology scientists and engineers contrib‐ute to the safety in handling and application of nanomaterials and promote progress in the reliability of nano analytics and nano measurement technology. BAM will participate in activities on selection, development, validation and applica‐tion of reference materials and methods. BAM is leader of WP5 and holds task leaderships for 5.1 and 5.4. and will par‐ticipate in dissemination of project results to international standardization committees through DIN, CEN and ISO to promote nanotechnology standardization under ISO TC’s 229, 201, 202 and 24. Another channel for dissemination of results is the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) which coordinates pre‐normative re‐search at the G20 level. BAM scientists participate in activities of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Materials (WPMN). Deutsches Institut fuer Normung E.V (DIN) DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, develops norms and standards as a service to industry, the state and society as a whole. A registered non‐profit association, DIN has been based in Berlin since 1917. DIN's primary task is to work closely with its stakeholders to develop consensus‐based standards that meet market requirements. Some 26,000 experts contribute their skills and experience to the standardization process. By agreement with the German Federal Government, DIN is the acknowledged national standards body that represents German interests in European and in‐ternational standards organizations. Ninety percent of the standards work now carried out by DIN is international in nature. Within NanoValid DIN will be responsible for the initiation of standardization projects based on the project re‐sults preferably in CEN/TC 352 "Nanotechnologies", ISO/TC 229 "Nanotechnologies", ISO/TC 201 "Chemical surface analysis" and ISO/TC 202 "Microbeam analysis". Instituto Nac de Metrol Norm e qual Industri (INMETRO) The National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) is a branch of the Brazilian Ministry of Develop‐ment, Industry & Foreign Trade. Its major task is to improve the quality of human life and to grant the competitiveness of the national economy through Metrology and Quality. INMETRO is also the Brazilian Focal Point for Technical Barri‐ers for the World Trade Organization and has mutual recognition agreements with international authorities, including the EC, Americas and Japan. INMETRO's role and main tasks in NanoValid will be the selection and validation of assays to monitor the safety of industrial production and use of nano‐structured goods, focusing on the development of reference toxicological methods to study human toxicity through cell‐based and tissue‐based in vitro as‐says. INMETRO will also produce and characterize standard reference materials, which will be monitored for their final stability, handling, storage and distribution. INMETRO will participate in inter‐laboratory comparisons of in vitro toxico‐logical assays, as well as assisting in the physico‐chemical characterization of engineered nanoparticles produced and distributed within NanoValid. Finally, INMETRO will participate in writing reports of data collected throughout the pro‐ject in addition to guidelines for regulatory bodies Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) is a Brazilian public university located in Belo horizonte, Minas Gerais. It is represented by two laboratories in the NanoValid project: Immunopharmacology Lab, in the Biological Sciences Insti‐tute, headed by the professor Dr. Mauro Martins Teixeira and Raman Spectroscopy Lab, in the Physics Department, headed by the professor Dr. Marcos Pimenta. Together theses two labs have the expertise in physical characterization models and in biological models that study inflammation induced by irritants. The role of UFMG in NanoValid project is to study and develop more accurate methods to characterize nanoparticles and biological models that allow nanoparticles hazard assessment.

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Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) The Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR‐IITR) is a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Government of India. This multidisciplinary research institute with the motto “Safety to Environment and Health and Service to Industry” addresses problems critical to human health and environment in niche areas of – Nano‐material Toxicology; Systems Toxicology & Health Risk Assessment; Food, Drug & Chemical Toxicology; Environmental Toxicology; and Regulatory Toxicology. The institute has a complete battery of in vitro and in vivo toxicity screening tests. CSIR‐IITR, has created a facility for safety/toxicity assessment of nanoparticles (NPs) used in cosmetics as well as therapeutics and are an active partner in framing the regulatory guidelines for safety of food, drugs, chemicals and nanomaterials in India. IITR will be involved in modifying, adapting and validating hazard identification methods for nanomaterials as well as those for environmental risk assessment. In addition it will also evaluate risk management and reduction strategies and will be actively involved in dissemination, exploitation and training. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) is a constituent laboratory of the council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India, with primary focus of research in cellular and molecular biology. The mission of the institute is to conduct research in frontier and multidisciplinary areas of modern biology; seek applications of this work and pro‐mote centralized national facilities for new and modern techniques in the inter‐disciplinary areas of biology. CCMB will be participating in NANOVALID for toxicology testing in vivo, in ecotoxicology and validation of environmental assess‐ment methods and validation of the optimized protocols in various work packages. Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning McGill University (McGill) The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning McGill University is Canada's leading research‐intensive univer‐sity, located in Montreal, and has earned an international reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery. Founded in 1821, McGill has 21 faculties and professional schools which offer more than 300 programs from the under‐graduate to the doctoral level. There are approximately 23,000 undergraduate students and 7,000 graduate students. The mission of McGill University is the advancement of learning through teaching, scholarship and service to society by offering to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the best education available, by carrying out scholarly activities judged to be excellent when measured against the highest international standards, and by providing service to society in those ways for which we are well suited by virtue of our academic strengths. Veneto Nanotech SCPA (VN) Veneto Nanotech (VN) coordinates the activities of the Italian Hi‐Tech Cluster for Nanotechnology. VN aims at fostering and developing private investments in research and at supporting high‐tech centres for the development of research projects and promotion of high‐tech transfer. In this framework, VN has established three research centres, NanoFab, specialised in surface engineering, LaNN, working in plasmonics and nanofabrication, and ECSIN, for the sustainable development of nanomaterials. In NanoValid, VN would participate in WP2 for database activities, and would perform methods validation in WP3 and WP5. Nanologica AB (NLAB) Nanologica is a materials development company based in Stockholm, Sweden. We engineer nanoporous materials for use in a range of industries from pharmaceuticals to photovoltaics. Our patented technique enables us to create struc‐tures with novel properties and functions based on their size, shape or composition. Nanologica participates in several FP projects such as Nanoinmune, Dendrimers and Nanosustain. In Nanovalid, Nanologica will lead the activities regard‐ing manufacture, supplying and physico‐chemical characterization of ENPs. StratiCELL Screening Technologies (STC) StratiCELL, formed in 2005, is a leading company assisting the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries to the safety and efficacy evaluation of their actives and products by means of in vitro models and methods in a GLP‐compliant environment. StratiCELL is a skin model manufacturer and a project‐driven services provider for in vitro test‐ing, with a particular emphasis on testing of skin care actives and products. They are, or have been, involved in a total of 7 EU projects including NanoValid.

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Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co (KG GAT) Grimm Aeosol Technik GmbH&Co. KG is a medium‐sized enterprise dealing with the development and production of in‐struments for measuring airborne particles. The products comprise both well established equipment used in networks as well as high‐end research instruments for nanoparticle research. The company was founded more than 30 years ago by Dr. Hans Grimm and has now more than 60 employees at two locations in Germany. In the frame of the Nanovalid pro‐ject, Grimm will develop and validate standard methods for monitoring Nanoparticle concentrations at workplaces and methods for assessing their biological effects. Quantis Sarl (QUANTIS) Quantis is a leading life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting firm specialized in supporting companies to measure, under‐stand and manage the environmental impacts of their products, services and operations. Quantis is a global company with offices in the United States, Canada, Switzerland and France and employs close to 70 people, amongst which several are internationally renowned experts in the LCA field. Quantis offers cutting‐edge services in environmental footprinting (multiple indicators including carbon and water), eco design, sustainable supply chains and environmental communica‐tion. Quantis also provides innovative LCA software, Quantis SUITE 2.0, which enables organizations to evaluate, analyze and manage their environmental footprint with ease. Fuelled by its close ties with the scientific community and its strate‐gic research collaborations, Quantis has a strong track record in applying its knowledge and expertise to accompany cli‐ents in transforming LCA results into decisions and action plans. Centro Ricerche Fiat SCPA (CRF) CRF is an industrial organization which has the mission of promoting, developing and transferring innovation in order to provide competitiveness to its clients and partners including the different companies in the FIAT Group, automotive sup‐pliers, companies from other sectors of industry, SMEs, and national and international research agencies. The CRF Mate‐rials Innovation Department is active in these future and emerging technologies since ten years with a permanent staff of 50 researchers having a wide‐scope expertise on chemistry, physics, material science and engineering, electronics, mo‐lecular biology and computer science. CRF will collaborate in the project research activities as an industrial end‐user part‐ner. In WP2 will define the automotive applications that employ specific nanomaterials in their manufacturing. Specific nanoparticles will be synthesized. In WP3 morphological, elemental and thermal characterization tests on nanoparticles and nanomaterials will be performed. In WP4 life‐cycle analysis of identified automotive nanomaterials and related prod‐ucts will be realized. In WP5 CRF will generate specific requirements for the nanoparticles needed in automotive applica‐tions and optimize fabrication of nanoparticles towards reference materials. Protocols for the standardization of the characterization and testing will be. CRF will participate in a case study for automotive sector. CRF will disseminate in WP7 the obtained results to the automotive sector. Arkema France SA (ARKEMA) ARKEMA is an industrial organization which develops and produces, on an industrial scale, nanostructured materials and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Arkema R&D has the mission of promoting, developing and transferring innova‐tion in order to provide competitiveness to its clients and partners from different sectors of industry (energy, automo‐tive, aerospace, sport goods,…), SMEs, and national and international research agencies. Arkema is active in developing nanomaterials in emerging technologies since more than twenty years with a permanent staff of more than 1500 re‐searchers having a wide‐scope expertise on chemistry, material science and engineering. Arkema will collaborate in the project research activities as an industrial producer partner. In WP2 Arkema will define customer’s applications that em‐ploy nanomaterials (MWCNTs) in their manufacturing. In WP3 morphological, chemical, physical and mechanical charac‐terization tests on nanomaterials (MWCNTs) and nanocomposites will be performed. In WP4 life‐cycle analysis of identi‐fied nanomaterials (MWCNTs) and related products (nanocomposites) will be realized. In WP5 Arkema will generate spe‐cific protocols for the standardization of characterization and testing of nanomaterialse. In WP6 Arkema will participate in a case study with nanomaterials (MWCNTs) . Arkema will disseminate in WP7 the obtained results to the chemical industry customers. Co‐operating Partners National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (UKUA) United States Environmental Protection Agency

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