Feb. 24, 2016
Non-animal methods can be used to evaluate the health and environmental effects of nanomaterials, according to an article that appears today in Risk Analysis.
The article was collaboration between the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd., Vireo Advisors, LLC, NeutralScience, L3C, and an independent consultant.
Nanomaterials are increasingly being used in a variety of consumer products ranging from food additives to packaging to pharmaceuticals, and as a result, there has been a growing need for effective strategies to understand and characterize their potential hazards. Due to the number of nanomaterials in need of assessment and the ethical and scientific concerns associated with animal experiments, there has been an increase in the development and use of non-animal testing approaches, which can be conducted more quickly and are more human-relevant.
The multi-stage framework presented in the paper aims to increase the relevance of non-animal approaches for nanomaterial risk assessment by considering real-life exposure scenarios, life cycle changes in nanomaterials, and the use of systems that represent the likely route of exposure.
According to Dr. Monita Sharma, lead author and nanotoxicology expert at PETA's Science Consortium, "We hope that risk assessors and researchers will embrace this framework which relies on non-animal methods to evaluate the safety of nanomaterials." Dr. Jo Anne Shatkin added, “We could not be more pleased with the outcomes of this interdisciplinary effort to advance the acceptance of alternative testing strategies in risk analysis.”
The article will be a part of a special series that will include manuscripts on the topics of human health, ecological, and exposure considerations for using non-animal methods for testing nanomaterials. The publications were generated following a workshop convened in 2014 by the Society for Risk Analysis and co-sponsored by PETA's Science Consortium, which focused on evaluating alternative testing strategies for risk assessment and management of nanomaterials.