Savvina Chortarea, Ogul Can Kuru, Woranan Netkueakul, Marco Pelin, Sandeep Keshavan, Zhengmei Song, Baojin Ma, Julio Gómes, Elvira Villaro Abalos, Luis Augusto Visani de Luna, Thomas Loret, Alexander Fordham, Matthew Drummond, Nikolaos Kontis, George Anagnostopoulos, George Paterakis, Pietro Cataldi, Aurelia Tubaro, Costas Galiotis, Ian Kinloch, Bengt Fadeel, Cyrill Bussy, Kostas Kostarelos, Tina Buerki-Thurnherr, Maurizio Prato, Alberto Bianco, Peter Wick, European Commission, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Swiss National Science Foundation, Chortarea, Savvina, Kuru, Ogul Can, Netkueakul, Woranan, Pelin, Marco, Keshavan, Sandeep, Song, Zhengmei, Ma, Baojin, Gómes, Julio, Abalos, Elvira Villaro, Luna, Luis Augusto Visani de, Loret, Thoma, Fordham, Alexander, Drummond, Matthew, Kontis, Nikolao, Anagnostopoulos, George, Paterakis, George, Cataldi, Pietro, Tubaro, Aurelia, Galiotis, Costa, Kinloch, Ian, Fadeel, Bengt, Bussy, Cyrill, Kostarelos, Kosta, Buerki-Thurnherr, Tina, Prato, Maurizio, Bianco, Alberto, and Wick, Peter
Graphene-related materials (GRMs) are subject to intensive investigations and considerable progress has been made in recent years in terms of safety assessment. However, limited information is available concerning the hazard potential of GRM-containing products such as graphene-reinforced composites. In the present study, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of the potential biological effects of particles released through an abrasion process from reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-reinforced composites of polyamide 6 (PA6), a widely used engineered thermoplastic polymer, in comparison to as-produced rGO. First, a panel of well-established in vitro models, representative of the immune system and possible target organs such as the lungs, the gut, and the skin, was applied. Limited responses to PA6-rGO exposure were found in the different in vitro models. Only as-produced rGO induced substantial adverse effects, in particular in macrophages. Since inhalation of airborne materials is a key occupational concern, we then sought to test whether the in vitro responses noted for these materials would translate into adverse effects in vivo. To this end, the response at 1, 7 and 28 days after a single pulmonary exposure was evaluated in mice. In agreement with the in vitro data, PA6-rGO induced a modest and transient pulmonary inflammation, resolved by day 28. In contrast, rGO induced a longer-lasting, albeit moderate inflammation that did not lead to tissue remodeling within 28 days. Taken together, the present study suggests a negligible impact on human health under acute exposure conditions of GRM fillers such as rGO when released from composites at doses expected at the workplace., This work was supported by the European Union (EU) 8th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development, Graphene Flagship project (H2020-FET- GrapheneCore2 - #785219 and H2020-FET- GrapheneCore3 - #881603). Part of this work was supported by the University of Trieste, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) through the LabEx project Chemistry of Complex Systems (ANR-10-LABX- 0026_CSC), the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program from the Spanish State Research Agency – Grant No. MDM-2017-0720 and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 310030_169207).