Collection of Controlled Nanosafety Data—The CoCoN-Database, a Tool to Assess Nanomaterial Hazard

Characterizing applications, exposure risks, and hazard communication for engineered nanomaterials in construction

BACKGROUND

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) may pose health risks to workers. Objectives were to characterize ENM applications in construction, identify exposure scenarios, and evaluate the quality of safety data sheets (SDSs) for nano-enabled construction products.

METHODS

SDSs and product data were obtained from a public database of nano-enabled construction products. Descriptive statistics were calculated for affected trades, product categories, and types of ENMs. A sample of SDSs (n = 33) was evaluated using modified criteria developed by NIOSH researchers. Bulk analysis via transmission electron microscopy characterized nanoparticles in a subset of products.

RESULTS

Companies report using >50 ENMs in construction products. ENM composition could not be determined via SDSs for 38.1% of the 907 products examined. Polymers and metal oxides tied for most frequently reported ENMs (n = 87, 9.6%). Nano silica, graphene, carbon nanotubes, and silver nanoparticles were also frequently reported. Most of the products were paints and coatings (n = 483, 53.3%), followed by pre-market additives, cementitious materials, insulation, and lubricants. Workers in twenty construction trades are likely to handle nano-enabled products, these particularly encompass cement and brick masons, painters, laborers, carpenters, glaziers, and insulators. A wide range of exposure scenarios were identified. SDSs were classified as satisfactory (18%), in need of improvement (12%), or in need of significant improvement (70%). Bulk analyses revealed discrepancies between actual ENM composition and those in SDSs.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

There has been significant progress investigating risks to construction workers posed by ENMs, but SDSs need major improvements. This study provides new insights on the use of ENMs in construction, exposure risks, and hazard communication.

The DaNa projects: public communication of (nano)material safety data-from conspiracy theories to study quality

In this perspective, the authors give their view on the developments and experiences on communicating on (nano)materials safety. We would like to share our experiences with the scientific community in order to make them useful for future communication activities. We present the long-term work of the science communication projects DaNa, DaNa2.0 and DaNa4.0, running from 2009 to 2023. Starting in the early 2000s with the beginnings of nanotechnology research, communication on the safety of nanomaterials with the public was still very new and faced the projects with many challenges. Today, science communication is indispensable for the dissemination of scientific findings and a fact-based approach like the DaNa "Knowledge Base Materials" creates a trustworthy dialogue with the public. This long-term project series has made a significant contribution to communication on the safety of nanomaterials, perhaps even the largest among publicly funded project series worldwide.

From papers to RDF-based integration of physicochemical data and adverse outcome pathways for nanomaterials

Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) have been proposed to facilitate mechanistic understanding of interactions of chemicals/materials with biological systems. Each AOP starts with a molecular initiating event (MIE) and possibly ends with adverse outcome(s) (AOs) via a series of key events (KEs). So far, the interaction of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) with biomolecules, biomembranes, cells, and biological structures, in general, is not yet fully elucidated. There is also a huge lack of information on which AOPs are ENMs-relevant or -specific, despite numerous published data on toxicological endpoints they trigger, such as oxidative stress and inflammation. We propose to integrate related data and knowledge recently collected. Our approach combines the annotation of nanomaterials and their MIEs with ontology annotation to demonstrate how we can then query AOPs and biological pathway information for these materials. We conclude that a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) representation of the ENM-MIE knowledge simplifies integration with other knowledge. SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION: This study introduces a new database linking nanomaterial stressors to the first known MIE or KE. Second, it presents a reproducible workflow to analyze and summarize this knowledge. Third, this work extends the use of semantic web technologies to the field of nanoinformatics and nanosafety.

Data-driven low-carbon transformation management for manufacturing enterprises: an eco-efficiency perspective

The low-carbon transformation of manufacturing enterprises is considered to be imperative to achieve carbon neutrality. Therefore, we propose a data-driven strategy to achieve a low-carbon transformation of manufacturing enterprises from an eco-efficiency perspective. Following the collection of input (energy, materials, equipment, R&D, and services) and output (waste and products) data from production systems of manufacturing enterprises, an ecological efficiency model of manufacturing enterprise production system was constructed from the perspective of carbon emissions, thus allowing the quantitative evaluation of the ecological efficiency of the production system. Furthermore, a "measurable, evaluable, and optimized" low-carbon transformation and upgrading method for manufacturing enterprise production system was established. Finally, through the production practice data of an enterprise from 2017 to 2021, the feasibility and effectiveness of this method were verified. The results show that this method can effectively improve the ecological efficiency of enterprises by 3.6% and reduce waste emissions by 12%. Our study provides new tools for improving the ecological efficiency of manufacturing systems, along with theoretical and methodological support to manufacturing enterprises for low-carbon transformation.

In Silico Simulation of Impacts of Metal Nano-Oxides on Cell Viability in THP-1 Cells Based on the Correlation Weights of the Fragments of Molecular Structures and Codes of Experimental Conditions Represented by Means of Quasi-SMILES

A simulation of the effect of metal nano-oxides at various concentrations (25, 50, 100, and 200 milligrams per millilitre) on cell viability in THP-1 cells (%) based on data on the molecular structure of the oxide and its concentration is proposed. We used a simplified molecular input-line entry system (SMILES) to represent the molecular structure. So-called quasi-SMILES extends usual SMILES with special codes for experimental conditions (concentration). The approach based on building up models using quasi-SMILES is self-consistent, i.e., the predictive potential of the model group obtained by random splits into training and validation sets is stable. The Monte Carlo method was used as a basis for building up the above groups of models. The CORAL software was applied to building the Monte Carlo calculations. The average determination coefficient for the five different validation sets was R² = 0.806 ± 0.061.

Synthesis, biomedical applications, and toxicity of CuO nanoparticles

Versatile nature of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) has made them an imperative nanomaterial being employed in nanomedicine. Various physical, chemical, and biological methodologies are in use for the preparation of CuO NPs. The physicochemical and biological properties of CuO NPs are primarily affected by their method of fabrication; therefore, selectivity of a synthetic technique is immensely important that makes these NPs appropriate for a specific biomedical application. The deliberate use of CuO NPs in biomedicine questions their biocompatible nature. For this reason, the present review has been designed to focus on the approaches employed for the synthesis of CuO NPs; their biomedical applications highlighting antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant studies; and most importantly, the in vitro and in vivo toxicity associated with these NPs. This comprehensive overview of CuO NPs is unique and novel as it emphasizes on biomedical applications of CuO NPs along with its toxicological assessments which would be useful in providing core knowledge to researchers working in these domains for planning and conducting futuristic studies. KEY POINTS: • The recent methods for fabrication of CuO nanoparticles have been discussed with emphasis on green synthesis methods for different biomedical approaches. • Antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, antiparasitic, antidiabetic, and antiviral properties of CuO nanoparticles have been explained. • In vitro and in vivo toxicological studies of CuO nanoparticles exploited along with their respective mechanisms.

A Systematic Review on the Hazard Assessment of Amorphous Silica Based on the Literature From 2013 to 2018

Background

Nanomaterials are suspected of causing health problems, as published studies on nanotoxicology indicate. On the other hand, some of these materials, such as nanostructured pyrogenic and precipitated synthetic amorphous silica (SAS) and silica gel, have been used for decades without safety concerns in industrial, commercial, and consumer applications. However, in addition to many in vivo and in vitro studies that have failed to demonstrate the intrinsic toxicity of SAS, articles periodically emerge, in which biological effects of concern have been described. Even though most of these studies do not meet high-quality standards and do not always use equivalent test materials or standardized test systems, the results often trigger substance re-evaluation. To put the results into perspective, an extensive literature study was carried out and an example of amorphous silica will be used to try to unravel the reliability from the unreliable results.

Methods

A systematic search of studies on nanotoxicological effects has been performed covering the years 2013 to 2018. The identified studies have been evaluated for their quality regarding material and method details, and the data have been curated and put into a data collection. This review deals only with investigations on amorphous silica.

Results

Of 18,162 publications 1,217 have been selected with direct reference to experiments with synthetically produced amorphous silica materials. The assessment of these studies based on defined criteria leads to a further reduction to 316 studies, which have been included in this systematic review. Screening for quality with well-defined quantitative criteria following the GUIDE nano concept reveals only 27.3% has acceptable quality. Overall, the in vitro and in vivo data showed low or no toxicity of amorphous silica. The data shown do not support the hypothesis of dependency of biological effects on the primary particle size of the tested materials.

Conclusion

This review demonstrates the relatively low quality of most studies published on nanotoxicological issues in the case of amorphous silica. Moreover, mechanistic studies are often passed off or considered toxicological studies. In general, standardized methods or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines are rarely used for toxicological experiments. As a result, the significance of the published data is usually weak and must be reevaluated carefully before using them for regulatory purposes.