The CEIN will explore the impact of libraries of engineered nanomaterials on a range of cellular lifeforms, organisms and plants in terrestrial, fresh water and sea water environments. By being able to predict which nanomaterial physicochemical properties are potentially hazardous, the CEIN will be able to provide advice on the safe design of engineered nanomaterials from an environmental perspective.
Created in 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the CEIN will employ approaches that differ from traditional toxicity testing, which relies mainly on costly whole-animal studies that take a long time to complete. To keep abreast of the rapid pace of nanotechnology-based enterprises, the CEIN will develop high throughput screening approaches and computerized learning technology to provide stratified risk ranking that can be used for the academic community, industry, the public and regulating agencies.
Headquartered at UCLA, the CEIN comprises the Universität Bremen (group of L. Mädler), UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Columbia University, University of Texas, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Nanyang Technological University , University College Dublin, and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spanien).
Research in the CEIN will unite seven integrated research groups to develop scientific models for: (i) determining the mechanisms of toxicological injury based on QSAR considerations at the nano–bio interface (IRGs 1 & 2); (ii) understanding the features of the NMs that affect their bio-accumulation in different phyla (IRG 4); (iii) predicting ecosystem toxicity of NMs in aquatic and terrestrial life forms (IRG 3); (iv) developing HTS and computational predictive risk assessment models (IRGs 5 & 6); and (v) using this information to implement the safe use of nanotechnology with low environmental impact.
More information:
NSF News
Funding: National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency under Cooperative Agreement Number EF 0830117 (USA)
Print Page
