This research line focuses on the study of dermal exposure to nanomaterials, that has been receiving increasing interest both in the field of occupational hygiene and in that of public health.
The skin absorption, often not adequately considered in a comprehensive risk assessment, is one of the possible routes of entry into the human body of potentially toxic substances. The research team is involved in the characterization of nanoparticles and products containing nanomaterials, in the in-vitro study of their capability to cross the skin barrier and to be absorbed systemically, in the determination of the mechanisms of this process and, finally, in the investigation of their toxicity on dermal cells.

These studies are the result of an intense collaboration with the Clinical Unit of Occupational Medicine and the Department of Life Sciences, within an international network of several research groups, involved in the nanotoxicology field.