Intertek Cantox, a company offering regulatory and scientific consulting services, has developed a novel method called the Nano Study Score method to support superior-quality nanotoxicology studies in order to assess the safety of nanomaterial- and nanotechnology-based products.
Since the utilization of nanomaterials continues to grow in a broad array of industries, the count of published reports regarding the safety of nanomaterials is ever-increasing. Intertek’s Senior Program Manager in Toxicology, Dr. Jeffrey Card delivered a presentation about the risks of in vivo exposure to nanomaterials in the Materials Research Society meeting conducted in November 2011.
Intertek Cantox’s two-step Nano Study Score method evaluates the quality of toxicology studies of nanomaterials. An in-depth literature search determined 30 publications wherein a toxicological endpoint was evaluated subsequent to in vitro or in vivo exposure to nanomaterials used in food. According to the assessment based on the Nano Study Score method, the availability of reliable data is insufficient to accurately evaluate the safety of in vivo exposure to nanomaterials used in food.
Substantial investment is required to conduct high-quality toxicology studies for comprehensively characterizing nanomaterials in order to obtain reliable and interpretable data. Additionally, it is expected that the design, interpretation, review and reporting of toxicology studies of nanomaterials managed by various methods will develop the Nano Study Score method.
According to Dr. Card, the novel method will help understanding the nanomaterial’s characteristics that cause its toxicity, which in turn helps businesses to produce safe nanotechnology-based products.
Source: http://www.intertek.com