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Prof.dr.ir. Ivonne Rietjens

Chair of Toxicology

Alternatives to animal testing

Alternatives to animal testing

For the risk assessment of chemicals, toxicity data obtained in laboratory animals are required for the hazard characterization. However, there are several constraints with the use of animals for this purpose: animal studies are considered unethical, are time-consuming and expensive, and may not adequately predict the toxic effects of chemicals in humans. Therefore the development of alternative, non-animal based methods is urgently needed. Thesis projects within the present topic focuss on the development of mode-of-action based alternative methods that can be applied in toxicological risk assessment. Part of this work can be the translation of the in vitro data to the in vivo situation, that can be obtained with help of physiologically based kinetic modelling. Our projects focus on developmental toxicity, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity and in vitro models for testing the safety of nanoparticles.

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Techniques involved: (stem) cell culture, in vitro toxicity studies (e.g. developmental toxicity, endocrine disruption and neurotoxicity), in vitro kinetic studies (e.g. intestinal or placental transport and biotransformation studies), physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling and application of these models to translate in vitro data to the in vivo situation, risk assessment based on in vitro data.

PhD's

  • Lenny Kamelia: Role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in developmental toxicity of petroleum substances.

  • Mengying Zhang: Predicting in vivo toxicity by combining in vitro testing and a generic physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling approach.

  • Ashraf Abdelkhaliq: A novel approach for the prediction of nanoparticle uptake to improve safety evaluations of nanoparticles used in food production and preservation.

  • Korphimol Kulthong: A novel approach for the prediction of nanoparticle uptake to improve safety evaluations of nanoparticles used in food production and preservation.

  • Miaoying Shi: A novel method for predicting human cardiotoxicity without animal testing.

  • Menno Grouls: Unravelling the functional dynamics between the human gut microbiome and intestinal inflammatory responses.

  • Shensheng Zhao: Development of a novel approach for the exposure and risk assessment of human systemic exposure to organophosphate pesticide via food in western and chinese population.

  • Annelies Noorlander: Novel in vitro assays that enable incorporation of urinary and biliary excretion in generic physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models.

  • Danlei Wang: in vitro metabolism and DNA binding of naked versus alkylated PAH that may be present in mineral oils.

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