Irene Maldini’s PhD research discusses the quantity of clothing produced and consumed, its growth, and the environmental challenges associated with it. Moreover, Maldini examines how the field of design has reacted to this issue, reflecting critically on the gap between the expected and the actual effects of design strategies aimed at reducing clothing demand. Clothing personalization and durability have been central strategies to that end; however, this research points out that their expected effects are based on partial historical views and simplistic perspectives of clothing consumption. Therefore, the study proceeds in offering an alternative perspective on clothing consumption building on the systemic nature of the wardrobe.
MULTIFILE
For almost fifteen years, the availability and regulatory acceptance of new approach methodologies (NAMs) to assess the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME/biokinetics) in chemical risk evaluations are a bottleneck. To enhance the field, a team of 24 experts from science, industry, and regulatory bodies, including new generation toxicologists, met at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, The Netherlands. A range of possibilities for the use of NAMs for biokinetics in risk evaluations were formulated (for example to define species differences and human variation or to perform quantitative in vitro-in vivo extrapolations). To increase the regulatory use and acceptance of NAMs for biokinetics for these ADME considerations within risk evaluations, the development of test guidelines (protocols) and of overarching guidance documents is considered a critical step. To this end, a need for an expert group on biokinetics within the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to supervise this process was formulated. The workshop discussions revealed that method development is still required, particularly to adequately capture transporter mediated processes as well as to obtain cell models that reflect the physiology and kinetic characteristics of relevant organs. Developments in the fields of stem cells, organoids and organ-on-a-chip models provide promising tools to meet these research needs in the future.
MULTIFILE
