NILU’s Laboratory for health risk assessment and in vitro human toxicity testing.
NILU’s Health Effects Laboratory is certified for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) for in vitro human toxicity testing and is the only facility in Norway with this certification for human health risk assessment. Recognized as one of Europe’s leading laboratories in nanotoxicology and nanosafety, it conducts cutting-edge research on genotoxicity, mutagenicity, in vitro carcinogenicity, endocrine effects using advanced cellular models (2D, 3D, organoids, stem cells) and exposure systems. The lab is contributing to regulatory science through frameworks such as Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs), Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA), Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA), and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD).
GLP certified
The Health Effects Laboratory is registered in the Norwegian Accreditation GLP Register under registration number GLP 012, which ensures a high quality laboratory.
The laboratory has extensive toxicological expertise, with a main focus on genotoxicology and nanotoxicology.
Studying toxicity
At NILU’s Health Effects Laboratory, we study the toxicity of natural and man-made substances using cells from humans, mammals and fish.
The Health Effects Laboratory offers toxicological research services with a focus on
- DNA damage
- oxidative stress
- gene mutations
- chromosomal damage
- carcinogenicity
- cell death
The Health Effects Laboratory can investigate the potential toxicity of most substances, and has a main focus on
- environmental toxins
- particles (PM)
- nanomaterials (NM)
The laboratory also studies potentially adverse side effects of new technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), to ensure that this does not negatively affect humans or animals.
Expertise
The laboratory is a partner in several national and international research projects, and contributes both with experimental studies and risk assessment of substances harmful to health.
The Health Effects Laboratory has good expertise in risk assessment and risk regulation, and has members in the OECD’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (RNDr Maria Dusinska), in the Scientific Committee on Food and the Environment (Dr. Espen Mariussen and Dr. Elise Rundén Pran) and three toxicologists who are Eurotox registered toxicologists (ERT-approved).
The laboratory contributes in particular to the work of building infrastructure and expertise in the field of nanotoxicology, with the development of alternative and adapted testing strategies for nanomaterials, safe-by-design, and risk characterization and risk assessment of nanomaterials.
Project portfolio
Our Health Effects Laboratory has a large project portfolio, and since its establishment in 2008 has been/is a partner in 6 FP7 projects (coordinator for NanoTEST), 6 H2020 projects (coordinator for RiskGONE (2019-2023), https://riskgone.wp.nilu.no/), 3 EEA grants, 4 EuroNanoMed projects, 3 NFR projects, 1 Marie Curie project and 2 Twinning projects.