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Three dipolar aprotic solvents were designed to possess high dipolarity and low toxicity: N,N,N′,N′-tetrabutylsuccindiamide (TBSA), N,N′-diethyl-N,N′-dibutylsuccindiamide (EBSA), and N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-dibutylsuccindiamide (MBSA). They were synthesized catalytically by using a K60 silica catalyst in a solventless system. Their water immiscibility stands out as an unusual and useful property for dipolar aprotic solvents. They were tested in a model Heck reaction, metal–organic framework syntheses, and a selection of polymer solubility experiments in which their performances were found to be comparable to traditional solvents. Furthermore, MBSA was found to be suitable for the production of an industrially relevant membrane from polyethersulfone. An integrated approach involving in silico analysis based on available experimental information, prediction model outcomes and read across data, as well as a panel of in vitro reporter gene assays covering a broad range of toxicological endpoints was used to assess toxicity. These in silico and in vitro tests suggested no alarming indications of toxicity in the new solvents. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Deze rapportage betreft de beantwoording van de vraag “Kan (lichamelijk) medisch onderzoek uitwijzen of een bepaald effect op de gezondheid gerelateerd is aan de blootstelling aan HDI?”. De effecten waar het in dit rapport om gaat komen uit het deelproject “Nadelige gezondheidseffecten en ziekten veroorzaakt door blootstelling aan hexamethyleendiisocyanaat (HDI).”, waarbinnen daartoe een inventarisatie van de internationale wetenschappelijke literatuur, evaluaties door (inter)nationale instanties en een weging door experts heeft plaatsgevonden1. Hieruit kwamen de volgende onomkeerbare aandoeningen naar voren die mogelijk door HDI kunnen worden veroorzaakt: allergische en irritatieve2 beroepsastma, allergische en irritatieve rhinitis en/of conjunctivitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis (extrinsieke allergische alveolitis (EAA)) en allergische en irritatieve contactdermatitis. Onder HDI worden in deze rapportage ook de polymeren van HDI begrepen, ook wel prepolymeren genoemd3. Naar hun toxische eigenschappen is relatief weinig onderzoek verricht, maar de verwachting is dat ze dezelfde aandoeningen veroorzaken als HDI zelf.

Nanotechnology has the potential to contribute to energy sustainability by reducing consumption, improving the infrastructure for energy generation, transmission and use, and offering new methods for energy production. To achieve this, the field of nanotechnology and energy needs to have a solid research base; routes for new developments in energy technology to be further advanced and commercialised; and a market open to nanotechnology energy products, in the context of appropriate regulation and standards. Energy sustainability is one of the main global challenges facing the world today. The European Energy Strategy is seeking to tackle that challenge through measures to improve energy efficiency, increase the share of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gases. This report looks, from a research, development and deployment (market) perspective, at the role of nanotechnology in achieving those energy goals and at the overall landscape in Europe for nanotechnology and energy.

New ways to diagnose and treat diseases are being sought to address the increasingly global societal challenge of achieving healthy and long life for as many as possible. In Europe, goals have been set to raise by two years the length of the average healthy lifespan of Europeans by 2020. Cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes were responsible for more than 70% of deaths from non-communicable diseases globally in 2012. Infectious diseases are also one of the leading worldwide causes of death in adults and were responsible for 16% of all deaths in 2012. Neurodegenerative diseases are increasingly affecting the ageing populations of the more developed countries, currently costing approximately EUR 130 billion per annum for care for people with dementia in Europe. The socio-economic cost of dealing with these and other diseases is mounting as the population grows and ages – in diagnosis and treatment, in the quality of life of the sufferers, and those who care for them, and in losses to the economy. The five health sub-sectors selected for review in this project are those mentioned above – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative diseases1. This report offers a snapshot of the status of the environment for nanotechnology in the context of health. Analysis of that environment, trends in the data and the effects of European policies and actions on health nanotechnology will be reported in the NanoData Health Impact Assessment and are therefore not included in this report.

This report offers a snapshot of the status of the environment for nanotechnology in the context of construction. The construction industry covers the building, maintaining and repairing of buildings and infrastructures for living, working and transport, including providing materials for those purposes. The sector is a major consumer of raw materials, chemicals, energy and intermediate products such as electrical equipment, as well as services

Nanotechnology manufacturing in this project includes both nanotools and nanomaterials. The tools can be used for manufacture at the nanoscale (e.g. lithography and imprint tools) or for measurement at the nanoscale (e.g. atomic force microscopes). Nanomaterials include solid particles, thin films, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanostructured materials, etc. The processes for manufacturing nanomaterials may be bottom-up (synthesis from atoms or molecules through a physical or chemical reaction) or top-down (progressive removal of material to reduce material size

This report offers a snapshot of the status of the environment for nanotechnology in the context of information and communications technologies (ICT). Analysis of that environment, trends in the data, and the effects of European policies and actions on nanotechnology, will be reported in the NanoData ICT Impact Assessment and are therefore not included in this report.

Photonics emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from work on semiconductor light emitters, lasers and optical fibres. Nanoscale effects impact on photonics, e.g. in the surface quality of waveguides and optical fibres. The focus here remains as closely as possible on photonics as it relates to nanotechnology, e.g. where nanotechnology enhances photonics and vice versa. Photonics more widely is also described and referenced.

This report offers a snapshot of the status of the environment for nanotechnology in the context of transport. Transport is defined here as a sector based on vehicles for transporting people and/or goods via the air, rail, road, water and space1, and is here divided into two main areas, vehicles and infrastructure. The industry generates about 5% of European employment and 7% of European GDP2. However, transport is also responsible for the emission of nearly 25% of greenhouse gases in the EU3.

Previously we showed a battery consisting of CALUX transcriptional activation assays, the ReProGlo assay, and the embryonic stem cell test, and zebrafish embryotoxicity assay as 'apical' tests to correctly predict developmental toxicity for 11 out of 12 compounds, and to explain the one false negative [7]. Here we report on applying this battery within the context of grouping and read across, put forward as a potential tool to fill data gaps and avoid animal testing, to distinguish in vivo non- or weak developmental toxicants from potent developmental toxicants within groups of structural analogs. The battery correctly distinguished 2-methylhexanoic acid, monomethyl phthalate, and monobutyltin trichloride as non- or weak developmental toxicants from structurally related developmental toxicants valproic acid, mono-ethylhexyl phthalate, and tributyltin chloride, respectively, and, therefore, holds promise as a biological verification model in grouping and read across approaches. The relevance of toxicokinetic information is indicated. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

Quantitative Property Property Relationships (QPPRs) for human and rat blood:air partition coefficients (PBAs) have been derived, based on vapour pressure (Log(VP)), the octanol:water partition coefficient (Log(K_OW)) and molecular weight (MW), using partial least squares multilinear modelling. These parameters are all included in the standard data to be submitted under REACH. The chemical dataset consisted of volatile organic chemicals, principally aliphatic hydrocarbons, benzene derivatives with one aromatic ring, and ethers, with and without halogen atoms. Other chemicals represented were cyclic hydrocarbons and carbonic acid esters. Separate rat and human models were derived, as well as mixed ones. Log(VP) and Log(K_OW) contributed most to the prediction of Log(PBA) in the three-parameter model, while the contribution of MW was relatively small. Still, the three-parameter model differed significantly from the two-parameter model and performed better. Its performance was comparable to that of models published in public literature, which are based on more complex molecular parameters or on measured olive:oil air and saline/water:air partition coefficients. Since, based on the available data for humans, rats, mice, dogs and rabbits, existence of interspecies differences of PBAs cannot be clearly excluded, the use of separate models for each species is advisable. Concluding, the three-parameter human model Log(PBA) = 6.96 – 1.04 Log(VP) – 0.533 Log(K_OW) – 0.00495 MW and the three-parameter rat model 6.16 – 0.888 Log(VP) – 0.521 Log(K_OW) – 0.00201 MW provide robust and reliable models for predicting PBA values of volatile organic chemicals using commonly available chemical properties of molecules. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantification of skin absorption is an essential step in reducing the uncertainty of dermal risk assessment. Data from literature indicate that the relative dermal absorption of substances is dependent on dermal loading. Therefore, an internal exposure calculated with absorption data determined at a dermal loading not comparable to the actual loading may lead to a wrong assessment of the actual health risk. To investigate the relationship between dermal loading and relative absorption in a quantitative manner, 138 dermal publicly available absorption experiments with 98 substances were evaluated (87 in vitro, 51 in vivo; molecular weight between 40 and 950, log P between -5 and 13), with dermal loading ranging mostly between 0.001 and 10 mg/cm2. In 87 experiments (63%) an inverse relationship was observed between relative dermal absorption and dermal loading, with an average decrease of factor 33 ± 69. Known skin irritating and volatile substances less frequently showed an inverse relationship between dermal loading and relative absorption. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The in vitro dermal absorption kinetics of didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) was studied after single and multiple exposure. In addition, the influence of biocidal formulations on the absorption of DDAC was investigated. Following dermal exposure to DDAC in aqueous solution, less than 0.5% of the applied dose reached the receptor fluid after 48 h. The apparent permeability coefficient (Kp) was 5 ± 1 cm/h × 10-6 for concentrations 11 mg/mL). However, the amount of DDAC reaching the receptor fluid remained low (

The dermal route of exposure is important in worker exposure to biocidal products. Many biocidal active substances which are used on a daily basis may decrease the barrier function of the skin to a larger extent than current risk assessment practice addresses, due to possible skin effects of repeated exposure. The influence of repeated and single exposure to representative biocidal active substances on the skin barrier was investigated in vitro. The biocidal active substances selected were alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride (ADBAC), boric acid, deltamethrin, dimethyldidecylammonium chloride (DDAC), formaldehyde, permethrin, piperonyl butoxide, sodium bromide, and tebuconazole. Of these nine compounds, only the quaternary ammonium chlorides ADBAC and DDAC had a clear and consistent influence on skin permeability of the marker compounds tritiated water and [14C]propoxur. For these compounds, repeated exposure increased skin permeability more than single exposure. At high concentrations the difference between single and repeated exposure was quantitatively significant: repeated exposure to 300 mg/L ADBAC increased skin permeability two to threefold in comparison to single exposure. Therefore, single and repeated exposure to specific biocidal products may significantly increase skin permeability, especially when used undiluted. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.