The 11th International Conference on NanoToxicology – NanoTox 2024 – took place from September 23 to 25, 2024, in the historic centre of Venice at Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli. The conference attracted more than 230 participants from research and academic institutions, as well as from industry, governmental agencies, and experts from 30 countries around the world.
The conference provided a valuable platform for convening leading experts focused on the challenges related to safe and sustainable multicomponent nanomaterials (MCNM) by developing novel tools for evaluating human and environmental hazards, alongside strategies for nanomaterial characterization, classification, grouping, and read-across for risk analysis and sustainability assessment.
NanoTox 2024 created an optimal environment for sharing developments in the areas of ecotoxicity and risk management of advanced nanomaterials. Key discussions centred on the latest research concerning hazard and exposure assessments, as well as innovative strategies for risk management and governance. The event emphasised the importance of grouping and read-across techniques, along with New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for enhanced risk assessments. Additionally, participants explored sustainability assessments through Safe(r)-by-Design (SbD) and Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) approaches, ensuring that safety is prioritised from the early stages of material development. The conference also examined the molecular mechanisms of toxicity, focusing on nanocell circuits that drive Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOP) and Modes of Action (MoA), in conjunction with big data management and modelling solutions that facilitate these advancements.
NanoTox 2024 proudly acknowledges the generous support of its sponsors, who play a crucial role in advancing the dialogue on eco-toxicity and risk management of advanced NMs. Our silver sponsors, EBRC and the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan bring invaluable expertise and resources to the event, enhancing the collaborative atmosphere. We also extend our gratitude to our bronze sponsors, QSARLab and Stat Peel, whose contributions help facilitate important discussions and innovations in the field. Additionally, we appreciate the participation of Cytek as an exhibitor, showcasing cutting-edge solutions that align with the NanoTox mission. Finally, our publication partnership with CSBJ ensures that the insights and findings shared at NanoTox 2024 reach a broader audience, furthering the impact of our collective efforts.
The event featured a comprehensive series of 122 oral and 80 poster presentations highlighting, among others, key findings from the three EU H2020 organising projects DIAGONAL, HARMLESS and SUNSHINE.
One highlight of the conference was the 24/7 poster pitch presentation session, where all poster authors got the chance to present their research in 24 seconds, followed by 7 keywords to highlight their work.
Special thanks to the four keynote speakers Sabina Halappanavar, (Health Canada and University of Ottawa, Canada), Mark Wiesner, (Duke University and University of Rennes), Chunying Chen (National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China),and Thomas Kuhlbusch (Federal Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Germany) for their inspiring and insightful presentations, as well as to Georgios Katalagarianakis, (former European Commission) for his encouraging summarising words in the closing ceremony.
The scientific conference was followed by the highly successful NMBP-16 Final Public Event, where DIAGONAL, HARMLESS, and SUNSHINE presented their collaborations, mutual strengths, synergies and complementarities as well as their main results to a broad audience of stakeholders, fostering valuable discussions and insights.
The following prizes were awarded during the conference:
- Four Oral Presentation Prizes for Young Researchers, selected by the Scientific Committee, were given to:
- Han Lianyong (Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany) – Presentation title “Pathogenic dynamics of lung macrophages during injury and regeneration caused by fiber-shaped nanomaterials”
- Arianna Livieri (GreenDecision Srl, Italy) – Presentation title “Advancing the development of Safe-and-Sustainably-by-Design toolboxes for advanced materials: Similarities between the SUNSHINE SSbD approach and Early4AdMa”
- Sara Marchetti (POLARIS Research Centre, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy) – Presentation title “How might exposure to PM2.5 increase the severity of SARS-CoV-2 viral infections?”
- Elisa Moschini (Heriot-Watt University, UK) – Presentation title
“Streamlining the Safe by Design of multicomponent nanomaterials via grouping – case studies”
- Four Poster Prizes, kindly sponsored by CSBJ: Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Section and selected by the Scientific Committee as well as the conference participants, were given to:
- Lisa Kleon (University of Salzburg, Austria) – Poster title “How green zinc- and cerium-based nanomaterials relate to industrial benchmarks across safety and sustainability dimensions – identification of alternatives for potent antimicrobial agents”
- Dawid Falkowski (QSAR LAB, Poland) – Poster title “A New Computational Approach for Toxicity Assessment of Binary Mixtures: Combining Dose-Response Curves with Mixture Toxicity Indexes”
- Franz Friebel (femtoG AG, Switzerland) – Poster title “Nanoparticle release from pigments – introducing the absolute (nano)particle concentration in a powder”
- Roshan Shrestha (Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, UMR 5086 CNRS, University of Lyon, France) – Poster title “Adsorption of Albumin on Graphene and Graphene Oxide: insight from molecular simulations”
The NanoTox 2024 conference was jointly organised by the three EU-funded H2020 projects DIAGONAL, HARMLESS, and SUNSHINE, and supported by the EU NanoSafety Cluster. The project partners as well as the members of their External Advisory Boards were heavily involved in the Organising and Scientific Committees.
The NanoTox 2024 overall program is available here, as well as a detailed agenda here. The Book of Abstracts is available here.
A selection of photos of NanoTox 2024 is available here.
SSbD4CheM partner BNN played a key role in the overall organisation of the scientific conference. Beatriz Alfaro, Susanne Resch and Andreas Falk were members of the Organisational and Scientific Committees respectively.
Yvonne Kohl, from Fraunhofer IBMT, joint the event with a poster presentation on “hiPSC-based air-liquid interface model for inhalation studies in vitro” were she presented the outcomes of her research on an air-liquid interface model based on human induced pluripotent stem cells for in vitro inhalation studies.
Some highlights of NanoTox 2024:
