Background
Approximately 34 percent of Norwegian employees report skin contact with chemicals, according to data from NOA at STAMI. Chemicals encountered in the workplace often consist of a mixture of both irritants and allergens, but we do not fully understand whether this mixture exposure poses a higher risk for irritation and/or allergy, and there are currently no risk assessment methods that can adequately assess this. Such risk assessment methods are necessary to protect at-risk workers and the general population.
Traditionally, chemical risk assessment has largely relied on animal studies. A primary objective of PARC is to replace these studies with advanced and targeted cell culture/in vitro models (“New Approach Methods – NAMs”). In the EU, there is ongoing work to ensure this approach is applied when assessing the risk of skin irritation and/or allergy. However, these in vitro models have not been investigated in relation to mixture exposures to irritants and allergens in the workplace. This project aims to generate new knowledge on this topic.
Objectives of the Project
The main goal of the project is to investigate the suitability of in vitro models for risk assessment of exposure to mixtures of irritants and allergens through:
- Identifying knowledge gaps in the risk assessment of mixture exposure to chemical substances that can cause skin irritation and contact allergy.
- Further developing existing in vitro methods for risk assessment of mixture exposure to chemical substances that can cause skin irritation and contact allergy. This will be carried out by evaluating the applicability and suitability of NAMs, three-dimensional skin models, and in vivo skin models for risk assessment of mixture exposure to allergens and irritants.
Project leaders:
Jose Hernán Alfonso
Steen Mollerup
Project group members:
Shan Narui
Mayes Alswady-Hoff
Øivind Skare
External Collaborators:
- Department of Dermatology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet
- The National Allergy Research Centre, Department of Allergy, Dermatology and Venerology, Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev-Gentofte, Gentofte Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Austria
Financial Contributors: Horizon Europe (EU)
More information about the research program: https://www.eu-parc.eu/
PARC Project Number: SKINSENMIX (P6.4.1c)
More information is to be found on the Norwegian project page.