Bee-friendly protection for plants

New types of sensors could help to develop plant protection products that are safe for bees

17-Oct-2024 - The increasing global demand for plant-based foods makes the use of pesticides necessary in order to protect crops from pests and ensure crop yields. However, there is one major disadvantage: among others, the widespread use of pesticides has led to a considerable reduction in insect populations ...

PFAS influence the development and function of the brain

Study uncovers mechanism of action with new test method

06-Sep-2024 - Some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are poorly degradable and are also known as "forever chemicals". They adversely affect health and can lead to liver damage, obesity, hormonal disorders, and cancer. A research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has ...

Revolutionizing chemical testing for a safer future

The EU project TOXBOX is pioneering an era of chemical testing

15-Mar-2024 - The EU project TOXBOX is pioneering an era of chemical testing, ensuring safety and sustainability throughout the entire life cycle. With cutting-edge technology and innovative design principles, TOXBOX aims to provide reliable toxicity data under realistic conditions, paving the way for accurate ...

Using metabolomics for assessing safety of chemicals may reduce the use of lab rats

"We hope that learnings from this research will be included in new guidance for the chemical industry to allow commercial laboratories to provide these services widely"

26-Feb-2024 - Scientists have discovered a more robust way of grouping chemicals and using read-across for toxicological data to meet regulatory requirements, which could greatly reduce animal testing. The safety of chemicals is taken incredibly seriously by regulators and as such industry must meet certain ...

DNTOX receives €1.4 million seed funding for non-animal testing of chemicals

The new capital will be used to set up the test laboratories in Düsseldorf, aim for GLP accreditation and launch the test battery on the market

20-Jun-2023 - The Life Science startup DNTOX receives seed funding of €1.4 million. The round is led by HTGF, with private investors Barbara Korte-Sturm and Nikolaus Sturm as well as Bool Capital and AQAL Capital also participating. The Düsseldorf-based company has developed a test system based on human cells ...

Using machine learning to improve the toxicity assessment of chemicals

Chemists take a new approach to testing chemicals

30-Dec-2022 - Researchers of the University of Amsterdam, together with colleagues at the University of Queensland and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, have developed a strategy for assessing the toxicity of chemicals using machine learning. They present their approach in an article in Environmental ...

New light source: A million times brighter than the sun

PhD thesis investigated application of a special white-light laser for semiconductor industry and microbiology

14-Feb-2022 - A new high-performance white-light laser is expected to speed up quality control in the semiconductor industry and provide closer monitoring of toxicity tests in microbiology. In one step, this laser enables the two-sided characterization of surfaces and can be integrated into production chains. ...

Animal-free method predicts nanoparticle toxicity for safer industrial materials

A step closer to safe-by-design material development

26-Nov-2020 - Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München together with scientists across Europe developed a novel animal-free method to predict the toxic effect of nanoparticles to the human lung. The method aims to enable the safety-by-design development of safer industrial materials. Our lungs are exposed to a ...

ECETOC Task Force provides new insights

Toxicity testing of microparticles and poorly soluble liquids in the water environment

15-Jan-2019 - A Task Force set up by the European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) has provided new insights into scientific testing for the impact of undissolved particles in the aquatic environment. ECETOC launched the Task Force in response to increasing concerns among the ...

Computers outperform lab rats in detecting toxic chemicals

19-Feb-2018 - UL, the science safety company, and Johns Hopkins University have embarked on joint research that has resulted in findings that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is superior in finding toxic substances to traditional animal testing. Beyond being more effective, UL's Cheminformatics REACHAcross™ ...