PROSPEcT: Ecotoxicology test protocols for representative nanomaterials in support of the OECD sponsorship programme

The proposed research forms an integral part of the PROSPEcT LINK project, initiated through the 'Nanoscience through Engineering to Application' programme. The project aims to provide a direct contribution to the global safety assessment of nanomaterials described by the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN). The LINK project will develop essential and seminal test methods and data on two agreed nanomaterials that are of particular commercial relevance to the UK. The project will innovate the scientific foundations for adapting or creating test methods that enable the ecotoxicological hazard assessment of nanomaterials. Both particles (i.e. CeO2 and ZnO) are part of a list of 14 nanomaterials, identified as commercially relevant to the global economic impact of nanotechnology. Furthermore, the development of methods to characterize CeO2 and ZnO nanomaterials in concert with parallel and coordinated development for other nanomaterials across the OECD testing program will enablethe future establishment of QSARs (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) for predictive safety evaluations of novel nanomaterials.The resulting scientific advancement will help to secure an economic future for the commercialisation of nanotechnologies in and by the UK and provide crucial UK leadership and information to the OECD's global programme on nanomaterials safety assessment.