On June 30, 2020, from 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. (EDT), the European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster will hold a webinar on “Immune response from occupational exposure to CNTs and nanofibres.”  The following speakers will discuss work at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on the association of occupational exposure with ex vivo functional immune response in workers handling carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers (CNT/F):

• Matthew Dahm — CNT/F exposure assessment;

• Aaron Erdely — Occupational exposure and immune effects; and

• Mary K. Schubauer-Berigan — Cross-sectional evaluation of CNT/F workers.

The objective was to evaluate the association between CNT/F and ex vivo responses of whole blood challenged with secondary stimulants in a cross-sectional study of 102 workers.  The webinar description states that “CNT/F exposure metrics were significantly inversely associated with stimulant:null ratios of several individual biomarkers as well as PC1 and PC2, illustrating a reduced immune response.  This approach may present a relatively sensitive method to evaluate human response to CNT/F or other occupational exposures.”