Supervisors:
Asger W. Nørgaard (NRCWE) awn@arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk
and Kristian Mølhave (DTU- Nanotech) Kristian.Molhave@nanotech.dtu.dk
Several studies have shown associations between inhalation of nanoparticles and observed inflammatory effects in the airways. Particle-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been suggested as significant in inducing biological activity in the lungs (Figure 1). Measurements of the ROS generation for nanomaterials in aqueous solutions can possibly be used as an indicator for their inflammatory potential.
In the proposed study, the radical generation in a buffered aqueous solution (pH 7.2) will be evaluated for a number of different nanomaterials including minerals with or without transition metals, carbon nanotubes, graphene etc. The ROS measurement is done with 5-diethoxyphosphoryl-5-methyl-1-pyrroline (DEPMPO) that will be used as spin tap since it produce fairly stable adducts with several O, C, S and N centred radicals (figure 2). Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with electrospray ionization will be used for identification and quantification of radical-spin trap adducts. The project will take place at The National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE).
