Rahaf and Luis presented an update on the work performed within the lab in the framework of WP4. The WP4 is the Graphene Flagship working group responsible for the health and safety assessment of graphene nanoparticles. Since Core 2, the NanoInflammation Team has been investigating the pulmonary toxicity and genotoxicity of graphene oxide nanoparticles using both in vitro and in vivo models.

The team has been focusing on the immune response and lung tissue changes induced by graphene oxide with different sizes, to investigate and highlight if size is a key factor to pulmonary toxicity. These studies were carried out in different experimental settings including dose variations, and short-term and long-term exposures, to evaluate acute and chronic toxicity responses.

The overarching aim of our task within the Graphene Flagship project was to elucidate if there is biocompatibility of GOs with lungs (a potential route of exposure in both occupational health or medicine applications), the role of the immune system and hazard levels (if any) for the conditions studied.

The Core 3 Project is still ongoing, and the WP4 has since expanded the investigation to other 2D nanoparticles, such as Boron nitrides.