Although previous EU funded projects have defined tools and concepts to ensure safety of nano-enabled products through design, many hurdles still hinder the implementation of these procedures in real production processes. ASINA will use the production value chains (VCs) of two representative… Read more categories of nano-enabled products (NEPs): coatings in environmental (clean) nanotechnology and nano-encapsulating systems in cosmetics, to formulate design hypothesis and make design decisions by applying a data-driven approach and methodology (the “ASINASMM”). Molded on industrial six sigma practices, the ASINA-SMM can be easily adopted by manufactures to deliver NEPs designed to be as safe as possible, so achieving ASINA vision to increase stakeholders (entrepreneurs, scientists, regulators, innovators, policy makers, consumers) confidence in SbD nanomanufacturing. The methodology encompasses distinct phases that ASINA will follow to deliver SbD solutions and supporting tools, at TRL6: define NEP, its intended use, production technologies and known quality, safety and cost requirements; measure performance attributes (techno-economic features, hazard and exposure potential along the entire life cycle) in relation to material (M) and process (P) design options; analyse data gathered from internal and external sources and derive/combine response functions, to identify the best compromise between possible design options; design new versions of the product/process that minimise risk, maximising performance; establish a pilot action to verify the capacity of ASINASMM to deliver practical, relevant, reliable and reproducible M- or P-SbD solutions. By its end, ASINA will provide a roadmap to generalise ASINA-SMM, and maximizing the positive impacts of further products, designed to improve environmental quality and human health/wellness, offering the transparency required to promote consumer acceptance and, as a consequence, the growth of reference industrial sectors.

Polyurethane (PUR) products, which include foams for building, construction, automotive and furniture and bedding, are petroleum-based and usually lack important properties. The need for sustainability in these industries leads to the development of cost-efficient processes and sustainable added-value products from low carbon… Read more footprint materials. The main objective of BIOMAT is to establish an Open Innovation Test Bed (TB) for the benefit of industries and SMEs, aiming to facilitate the cross-border partnership and accelerate innovation in nano-enabled bio-based insulation materials for these industries. Through the creation of a Single-Entry Point (SEP), SMEs and other industrial parties will have open access at a competitive price to physical facilities (pilot production lines) and services (characterisation, nanosafety, standardisation/ regulation, business/marketing plans as well as technological and business-oriented mentoring) which will be focused on manufacturing and testing of nanoparticle-enabled functional PUR-based foams for the above mentioned industrial sectors. The SEP will follow all EC guidelines related to the establishment of new entities providing services through different testbeds across Europe. BIOMAT ecosystem will cover the entire Value Chain (VC) from fundamental biomaterials and functional nanoparticles to the final products and their proof of concept in an industrial environment, thus accelerating the market uptake of the new nano-enabled sustainable bio-based products. BIOMAT will, therefore, fill the existing gaps in the VC of these industrial sectors, by providing new services and support at different levels the use of such materials in these key industries.

Cadmium is a well recognized carcinogen, primarily released into the environment by anthropogenic activities (30,000 tons/year). In the effort to understand the early events responsible for cadmium carcinogenesis, we propose the use an in vitro biological system (the Cell Transformation… Read more Assay, CTA), that has been shown to closely model some key stages of the conversion of normal cells into malignant ones. Cadmium-triggered early responses in CTA will be analysed through microarray-based toxicogenomics. Protein expression of specific and non-specific targets of cadmium will be investigated consequently to transcripts analysis. The comparison of early events with those features in transformed cells (foci) will suggest the triggering mechanisms, and will provide hints on possible protective and/or preventive substances. Along with carcinogenesis, a role of cadmium in neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases is emerging. For example, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the voluntary motor nervous system. Genetic factors play a major role in the familial form, represented by 10% of cases. Whereas, in the remaining 90% sporadic cases a multifactorial origin is supposed, in which environmental factors may be involved. Particularly, the involvement of metal toxicity is proposed, based on epidemiologic data and on the increasing number of case reports of ALS-like syndromes associated to metal exposure. Studies of neurodegenerative diseases mainly rely on the use of animal models and on stem cells. Already ten years ago in a Nature Report the validity of neurodegenerative disease animal models was questioned, and direction towards the reduction of transgenic models is mandatory. In this direction, to investigate cadmium neurotoxic effects a human neuronal cell line will be used. The application of a toxicogenomic approach will evidence deregulated pathways in SH-SY5Y human neuronal cells exposed to cadmium to unravel neuronal specific and non-specific responses to the toxic metal. All the results from different techniques and approaches (toxicogenomics, specific markers expression, in silico and in vitro methods) will be integrated to better understand the carcinogenic and neurotoxic potential of cadmium.

Aim of the project is evaluate the impact of the microplastics on live cells and organisms exposed to these materials by inhalation or in aquatic environment. In this work we focus the attention to the toxic potential of no-commercial MPs, keeping into mind… Read more that eventual adverse effects of MPs could be caused both by the physical properties of particles and also other factors, e.g. delivered chemical pollutants. In particular, microparticles obtained from waste plastics will be used. Waste plastic granules were obtained from plastic recycling plants and the micron-sized fraction recovered in lab after serial mechanical sievings. The smallest fractions of the plastic granules, considered as representative of the environmental MPs, are characterized by polymers mixtures and other residues (additives, metals, etc...) and will be been used to perform toxicity tests using in vitro and in vivo systems representative of an inhalation and aquatic exposure scenarios respectively. The toxic responses, as well as the modality of the MP interactions with the biological structures will be been investigated in Polaris Laboratories (Unimib), according to standard toxicological tests (cell viability, pro-inflammatory response and cell cycle analyses). The target will be epithelial cells, fibroblasts and cells involved in the inflammatory response, exposed to increasing concentrations of MP suspensions. Before proceeding with biological tests the microplastic granulates must be adequately characterized in size and morphology. Therefore, plastic heterogeneous fractions will be mechanically grinded in User laboratory to obtain MP fractions of < 100 μm and < 50 μm. MPs will be morphologically charaterized by polarized light, fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) localized in Lead users facility( UNIMIB). Preliminary observations of these MPs samples are shown in Figure 1. Moreover, polymeric composition of the MP fractions will be analyzed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy (Nicolet In5 FTIR) also available in DISAT department of UNIMIB. Preliminary data obtained by this analytical approach revealed that MPs are mostly constituted by polyethylene and polypropylene.