Engineered Nanomaterials: Knowledge Gaps in Fate, Exposure, Toxicity, and Future Directions
Table 4
Desirable (achievable) outcomes of quantitative nanostructure-toxicity relationship (QNTR) in the next ten years adapted from published studies (Winkler et al. [141]; Stone et al. [43]).
Short-term
Medium-term
Long-term
(i) Fully characterised nanomaterials that can be used in experiments
(i) Appreciable data on in vivo effects of nanomaterials
(i) Sufficient in vitro and in vivo information on nanomaterials to assist the development of regulatory measures
(ii) In vitro assays that are useful for the assessment of toxicologically relevant effects
(ii) Robust in vivo models for predicting the endpoints of nanomaterials’ interaction with biological systems
(ii) Reliable models for prediction and risk-based classification of nanomaterials
(iii) Fast and highly efficient methods for measuring and modelling the interaction of nanomaterials with biological systems
(iii) In-depth understanding of the mechanism of nanomaterials toxicity
(iii) Integration of the data into legal framework, life-cycle assessment, and decision trees
(iv) Specific descriptors for modelling the relationships among the structures and toxicity properties of nanomaterials
(iv) Information on cohort and population; direct and indirect; short-/long-term reversible and irreversible effects
