In this video of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment researchers of the institute speak about their involvement in the Toxicology Research on Air Pollution & Nanomaterials that is currently taking place.

Title:
Advancing Toxicology Research on Air Pollution & Nanomaterials.
National Institute for Public Heaalth and the Environment - RIVM.

Prof. Dr. Flemming R. Cassee, Inhalation toxicologist and Chief Science Officer RIVM, sits in an office when he speaks to the camera.

Prof. Dr. Flemming R. Cassee: "At RIVM knowledge generating research is very important for us to maintain our scientific authority for informing policy and regulations. Inhalation toxicology is that special expertise that we have here where we do experimental, innovative research. We have mobile facilities where we can do measurements and exposures that allow us also to collaborate with partners outside the RIVM. And that has resulted also in high impact papers and very strong advice for policy makers."

Dr. Ir. Miriam E. Gerlofs-Nijland, Senior Scientific Advisor RIVM, sits in an office when she speaks to the camera.

Dr. Ir. Miriam E. Gerlofs-Nijland: "RIVM is a leading authority in air pollution and nanomaterial toxicology. We advise international bodies like the World Health Organization, the European Commission and OECD. And in the Netherlands, when it comes to policy advice we have a strong link to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. They use the results of our research to develop policy. And for us, to provide good advice, it's very important that we integrate our knowledge on inhalation toxicology with environmental epidemiology and exposure assessments."

Dr. Floor Borlée, Scientific Advisor RIVM, sits in an laboratory when she speaks to the camera.

Dr. Floor Borlée: "Almost 25% of the fine dust emissions in the Netherlands comes from wood burning, caused by residential heating. Wood smoke contains particles such as fine dust and soot but also gases such as NOx. And these components can affect health, for example, the shortness of breath. At RIVM, we look at the toxicity of wood smoke and try to estimate the effect of wood smoke on public health."

Ir. Evert Duistermaat, Engineer RIVM, stands in the same laboratory and shows equipement that is being used in the research.

Ir. Evert Duistermaat: "To investigate the effects of wood smoke we take a small fraction of the of the wood smoke and we dilute it with compressed air in this diluter. For that, we measure particle size and concentration as well as concentration of several gases, such as NOx and volatile organic compounds. From these buffer chambers, cells are exposed to the diluted wood smoke. And we measure cell viability and cell damage in the exposed lung cells."

Dr. Floor Borlée: "What we try to investigate now is how the lung cells react in optimal burning conditions. But in the second phase, we also want to know how the cells respond to suboptimal burning conditions. For example using different types of wood. And all this information is used to try to better estimate the effect of wood burning on public health in the Netherlands."

Dr. Rob Vandebriel, Senior Scientific Researcher RIVM, sits in another RIVM laboratory when he speaks to the camera.

Dr. Rob Vandebriel: "Here we are devising a strategy to evaluate the effects of advanced materials on the lung. When the aerosol is generated, so the particles are in the air they are of course characterized, and after that, they are led to an air liquid interface. Air liquid interface is a single cell layer of lung epithelial cells. By exposing through the air, that is most similar to the situation where humans are exposed. The bottom side, the medium, is used for nourishment, moist, and for pH. And eventually we can use our project to evaluate the effects of different, advanced materials on the lung."

Drs. Jos van Triel, Scientific Advisor RIVM, stands in a laboraty when he speaks to the camera.

Drs. Jos van Triel: "Exposure to air pollution has long been linked to adverse health effects. Like respiratory disease, heart disease emissions released by traffic, exhaust tailpipe emissions. Non exhaust emissions like tire wear. An important challenge is that, in general the concentration of these particles in ambient air, is quite low. In that case, we can use a device like this. It's called VACES."

Text-on-screen:
Versatile Aerosol Concentration Enrichment System (VACES)

JOS VAN TRIEL: "It was originally developed by the University of Southern California. Further optimized in our lab. It allows us to concentrate the particles in the aerosol up to a 20-fold levels. And it also allows us to separate different sized fractions of particles in the aerosol. We can then use the output of the VACES system for direct exposure of cells, using this device over here. Which is called Automated Exposure Station developed by Vitrocell. And there we can expose lung cells or other cell types by air liquid interface exposure, where we investigated toxicity of this aerosol."

Dr. Wanda van der Stel, Scientific Advisor RIVM, sits in an office when she speaks to the camera.

Dr. Wanda van der Stel: "We know that airborne particles can have an effect on our health. But different sources may produce similar amounts of mass but have differences in reactivity. So if your particles are small enough to reach your deeper lungs they will encounter a layer of cells. That layer of cells is encapsulated in lipids. And those lipids protect the cells. And when this happens in a prolonged period, we think that this, in the end, lead to severe effects, when people have lung diseases. So here at RIVM we try to go closer to the reaction that really happens in our lungs. So we have an assay, a stepwise assay, in which we try to collect the lipids that are really in your lungs with various reactions. These quantify what happens and then link to the reactivity of various sources like tire wear, combustion, microplastics. And hopefully, in the end, helps people that are most susceptible for them. Like people with asthma, smaller children and people with lung disease."

Prof. Dr. Flemming R. Cassee: "So now we are expanding our focus from air pollution to emerging issues like microplastics or advanced nanomaterials. Or even the combination between air pollution like NO2 and microorganisms. On top of that, we're moving from the traditional inhalation animal experiments to human studies and advanced methodologies on in vitro methods. And we complement that also with modeling. Explaining what the human relevance is."

Dr. Ir. Miriam E. Gerlofs-Nijland: "As a team, we provide expertise both at the national and international level. based on knowledge generated research and a well-developed network. We can advise policymakers and regulators worldwide considering all aspects of inhalation toxicology."

Text-on-screen:
www.rivm.nl/lucht

The logo of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, part of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport appears on screen.