Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2016-06-07"
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- High throughput toxicity screening and intracellular detection of nanomaterialsPublication . Collins, A.R.; Annangi, B.; Rubio, L.; Marcos, R.; Dorn, M.; Merker, C.; Estrela-Lopis, I.; Cimpan, M.R.; Ibrahim, M.; Cimpan, E.; Ostermann, M.; Sauter, A.; Yamani, N.E.; Shaposhnikov, S.; Chevillard, S.; Paget, V.; Grall, R.; Delic, J.; de-Cerio, F.G.; Suarez-Merino, B.; Fessard, V.; Hogeveen, K.N.; Fjellsbø, L.M.; Pran, E.R.; Brzicova, T.; Topinka, J.; Silva, M.J.; Leite, P.E.; Ribeiro, A.R.; Granjeiro, J.M.; Grafström, R.; Prina-Mello, A.; Dusinska, M.With the growing numbers of nanomaterials (NMs), there is a great demand for rapid and reliable ways of testing NM safety—preferably using in vitro approaches, to avoid the ethical dilemmas associated with animal research. Data are needed for developing intelligent testing strategies for risk assessment of NMs, based on grouping and read-across approaches. The adoption of high throughput screening (HTS) and high content analysis (HCA) for NM toxicity testing allows the testing of numerous materials at different concentrations and on different types of cells, reduces the effect of inter-experimental variation, and makes substantial savings in time and cost.
- Combined exposure to multiple mycotoxins in food: are we ready for risk assessment and risk management?Publication . Alvito, Paula; Assunção, Ricardo; Silva, M.J.It is nowadays recognized that the risk of human co-exposure to multiple mycotoxins is real. In the last years, a number of studies have approached the issue of co-exposure and the best way to develop a more precise and realistic assessment. Likewise, the growing concern about the combined effects of mycotoxins and their potential impact on human health has been reflected by the increasing number of toxicological studies on the combined toxicity of these compounds. Nevertheless, risk assessment of these toxins, still follows the conventional paradigm of single exposure and single effects, incorporating only the possibility of additivity but not taking into account the complex dynamics associated to interactions between different mycotoxins or between mycotoxins and other food contaminants. Considering that risk assessment is intimately related to the establishment of regulatory guidelines, once the risk assessment is completed, an effort to reduce or manage the risk should be followed to protect public health. Risk assessment of combined human exposure to multiple mycotoxins thus poses several challenges to scientists, risk assessors and risk managers and opens new avenues for research. This presentation aims to give an overview of the different challenges posed by the likelihood of human co-exposure to mycotoxins and the possibility of interactive effects occurring after absorption, towards knowledge generation to support a more accurate human risk assessment and risk management. For this purpose, a physiologically-based framework that includes knowledge on the bioaccessibility, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of multiple toxins is proposed. Regarding exposure assessment, the need of harmonized food consumption data, availability of multianalyte methods for mycotoxin quantification, management of left-censored data and use of probabilistic models will be highlight, in order to develop a more precise and realistic exposure assessment. On the other hand, the application of predictive mathematical models to estimate mycotoxins’ combined effects from in vitro toxicity studies will be also discussed. Results from a recent Portuguese project aimed at exploring the toxic effects of mixtures of mycotoxins in infant foods and their potential health impact will be presented as a case study, illustrating the different aspects of risk assessment highlighted in this presentation. Further studies on hazard and exposure assessment of multiple mycotoxins, using harmonized approaches and methodologies, will be crucial towards an improvement in data quality and contributing to holistic risk assessment and risk management strategies for multiple mycotoxins in foodstuffs.