Our main interest lies in the safety assessment of (nano)particles, chemical substances, food additives, and food packaging materials using a safe-by-design approach. In particular, our group focuses on advanced in vitro intestinal barrier models to assess uptake, transport, and intracellular effects, including impacts on barrier integrity, cellular stress responses, and subcellular pathways following gastrointestinal exposure. In addition, alternative developmental toxicity models form a core part of our research activities and are applied in compliance with Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Our interdisciplinary approach aims to establish mechanistic linkages between the physicochemical properties of materials, cellular uptake, and subsequent intracellular effects.

Toxicology group, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Belgium