Nanotechnology promises significant scientific, economic and societal benefits, but commercialization and growth are threatened by safety uncertainties. Classical hazard testing strategies to define the human and environmental health impact of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) commonly apply unrealistic acute, high-doses to models that do not reflect the in vivo environment. Furthermore, existing in vitro and in silico hazard detection methods are not accurately predictive. PATROLS addresses these limitations by establishing and standardizing the next generation of advanced safety assessment tools for improved prediction of the adverse effects caused by chronic ENM exposure in human and environmental systems. PATROLS will deliver: 1) physiologically representative multi-cellular in vitro 3D lung, gastrointestinal tract and liver models; 2) cross-species models integrating human and environmental safety testing; 3) innovative ecotoxicity bioassays in several organisms across a food chain; 4) robust in silico models for dosimetry, interspecies toxicity extrapolation and hazard prediction. ENM characterization under physiologically relevant experimental conditions will be integral to this realistic, exposure driven strategy. A systems biology approach will also be adopted to identify key events linked to adverse outcome pathways, informing mechanism-based endpoints associated with real-life ENM exposures. These objectives will be achieved by an international network of world-leading academic, governmental, industrial, SME, risk assessment agency and NGO partners. The innovative in vitro and in silico nanosafety testing tools developed by PATROLS will balance speed, cost and biological complexity, while reducing uncertainty via improved predictive power. The smart targeted testing approach will drive a paradigm shift in (eco)toxicology towards mechanism-based ENM hazard assessment to support policy development in human and environmental nanosafety regulatory frameworks.

Gov4Nano will design and establish a well-positioned and broadly supported Nano Risk Governance Council (NRGC). Organizing, connecting and engaging are key activities in Gov4Nano and its creation of a sustainable NRGC. Gov4Nano will develop an operational trans disciplinary Nano Risk Governance Model (NRGM) for nanotechnologies, building on an established governance framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). Engaging stakeholders (including regulators) to proactively address nano-specific safety and seek dialogue for joint activities. NRGC and its precursor project Gov4Nano will engage, in order to support these activities, with the broad variety of stakeholders across all relevant nano-disciplines (chemical, biocides, food and feed, pharma and medical devices and materials development) and draft a review on our knowledge progress over the last decade whilst initiating dialog. To boost the quality of the dialog it will create a platform for dialogues between stakeholders in a “trusted environment” inclusive of civil society. The NRGC core business is to coordinate, guide and harmonize in order to overcome the fragmentation of current knowledge, information and needs over various sectors and disciplines (workers, consumers/patients, environmental safety) and to prepare the transfer of this knowledge. To that end, the NRGC will be equipped with a self-sustainable NanoSafety Governance Portal (NSGP) consolidating state-of-the-art and progressive nanosafety governance tools including ones for dialogues and measuring risk perception. Major efforts will be towards requirements for data harmonization and data curation to be defined and laid down in guidance on obtaining harmonized and standardized quality-scored data collections promoting a big data approach for nano-toxicology. Research activities will be initiated for regulatory sound knowledge in support of harmonized (OECD) guidance for characterization and testing of nanomaterials.

EU’s industry is pushed by EC‘s green deal to convert into a net-zero industry, accelerate the transEU’s industry is pushed by EC‘s green deal to convert into a net-zero industry, accelerate the transition to climate neutrality and drive its resilience. As an important part of the EU manufacturing industry, the EU’s textile sector is thus called to action and to reach the next level of disruptive innovations in sustainable textiles. BioFibreLoop is a business-driven consortium of 12 partners from small to large industry and scientific institutes and will meet these challenges by deploying a new generation of renewable, recyclable, bio-inspired materials made of lignin, cellulosic and polylactic acid at TRL 7 by 2027. The innovation addresses the outdoor/active/workwear industry and will result in circular, technical textiles made from biopolymers with innovative bio-inspired non-toxic functionalisation. BioFibreLoop will demonstrate breakthrough technologies and pave the way for market entry: (i) near to zero waste biomimetic functionalization through circularity, (ii) zero use of hazardous chemicals, (iii) satisfied consumer needs through smart functionality for hydrophobicity, oil repellency, self-cleaning, and antibacteriality. In 3 industrial demo sites (IT, DE, AT) biomimetic functionalisation and recycling of the bio-based materials will be proven at large at TRL7. These are based on processes owned by partners and brought in at TRL4 e.g. lignin-based thermoplastic coating, laser-based technology for surface structures in bio-based textiles, thermomechanical recycling of PLA and lignin-based textile materials to serve as valuable secondary raw materials. At the project’s end, a patented circular, sustainable and safe process will be validated and demonstrated at a large scale to generate brand-new renewable, recyclable and functionalised materials. By 2035, 20% of the textile industry will adopt our solution boosting ~ 950 Mio. € additional revenues.

The main goal of PlasticsFatE (Plastics Fate and Effects in the Human Body) is to improve our present understanding of the impact of micro- and nano-plastics (MP/NP) and associated additives/adsorbed contaminants (A/C) in the human body. Human exposure to MP/NP may result from the widespread use of plastic products and their release to the environment, where they degrade to MP/NP particles. But plastics particles reach natural systems also as secondary by-products, e.g., from tyre wear or abrasion of textiles. As a consequence, these particles are found in food, drinking water, air and environmental media (food chain, soils). Despite recent efforts to assess the real dimension of human risks associated with MP/NP, our current knowledge is still insufficient. One of the reasons is the lack of reliable and validated methods that are able to generate the science-based data we need. PlasticsFatE will address this challenge and associated uncertainties by implementing a comprehensive measurement and testing program ("test the test"), including inter-laboratory studies, to improve and validate the performance and applicability of available methods and tools to MP/NP. The tested and validated approaches will be used to (1) identify and detect MP/NP and A/C in a variety of complex matrices, such as food (vegetables, fruits, beverages, fish etc.), human tissues and consumer products (tooth paste, beauty products), as well as relevant environmental media (air, drinking water, soils), and to (2) assess their (also long-term) fate and toxicity in the human body by using advanced cell culture and organ models that simulate real exposure to MP/NP in the respiratory and gastro-intestinal tract. The newly developed innovative approaches will be integrated into a novel risk assessment strategy specifically designed for MP/NP to provide the policy relevant and scientifically sound data needed to support the health-relevant aims of European strategies for plastics. PlasticsFatE is part of the European MNP cluster on human health.