Investigation of Adverse Health Effects Induced by Emerging Pollutants: Neurotoxicity of nanoparticles and Metal-related toxicity of E-cigarettes

Engineered Nanoparticles (ENPs) have been widely introduced in many consumer products, and are now omnipresent. Notwithstanding the fact that health impact of ENPs and their toxicology are studied since the 1990s1, still many questions remain to be answered. Only scarce data can be find on ENP relocation to the central nervous system (CNS) and how they potentially may pass the blood brain barrier (BBB) Currently the most common used ENPs contain elements like C, Zn, Ag, Si, Ti and serious concerns are raised in authorities and scientific community2345. Some research already showed that those ENPs could induce CNS inflammation in animal model6. In order to assess CNS related health risks of ENPs, more systematic research is needed in this field. In a new PhD-project I would like to focus on some of the following items: - Systematic review on neural effects (or CNS effects) of nanomaterials o Open existing questions? In vitro - To unveil the toxicity of different ENPs in cells of the nervous system in vitro (neural cells & glia cells)  setup - To define possible ENPs specific biomarkers Animal studies - To determine ENPs relocation to CNS - To find systemic effect of ENPs exposure to CNS - To define possible ENPs specific biomarkers