The International Particle Toxicology Conference is one of the longest standing scientific meeting series in its field. It started with a first conference in the UK in 1979 and has since been held 10 times. The 2016 conference in Singapore will be the first IPTC in Asia. The conference is an intimate meeting of thought leaders and the best researchers in their respective field. The meetings are a place where new ideas are discussed and cultured, and where new initiatives are prepared and launched.
Particle and fibre toxicology will be the main focus for IPTC 2016, we also provide exchanges with the bio-medical community, have contributions on health-beneficial particle-bio interactions, and showcase all types of original particle research.
The International Particle Toxicology Conference is one of the longest standing scientific meeting series in its field. It started with a first conference in the UK in 1979 and has since been held 10 times. The conferences are repeated every two to six years, mostly with a rotational pattern between Europe and North America. To date the meeting has been held only once in another continent (2008 in South Africa).
Years, locations and chairs of the past conferences:
Year |
Edition |
Location |
Chairs |
1979 |
1st |
Cardiff (UK) |
Brown, Gormley, Chamberlain and Davis |
1982 |
2nd |
Jefferson (USA) |
Hart |
1984 |
3rd |
Schluchsee (Germany) |
Beck and Bignon |
1988 |
4th |
Sherbrooke (Canada) |
Mossman and Begin |
1993 |
5th |
Paris (France) |
Davis and Jaurand |
1996 |
6th |
Lake Placid (USA) |
Driscoll and Oberdorster |
1999 |
7th |
Maastricht (NL) |
Borm and Donaldson |
2005 |
8th |
RTP, North Carolina (USA) |
Mossmann, Costa and Kleeberger |
2008 |
9th |
Cape Town (South Africa) |
Gulumian |
2013 |
10th |
Dusseldorf (Germany) |
Stone and Schins |
The topics of the conference changed over time. The first conferences were dominated by Asbestos, Crystalline Silica and Coal dust. The focus then changed in the mid-nineties to man-made mineral-fibres and asbestos substitutes. Ten years ago, ambient fine and ultrafine airborne particles were the key topic while in the last two editions, the focus changed to engineered nanoparticles.
The conference is set up as a small, intimate meeting of the best researchers in the field. It is attended usually by about 150 to 250 scientists, many of them leaders in their respective field of research. The meetings are seen as a place where new ideas are discussed and cultured, and where new initiatives are prepared and launched. Usually more than ¾ of the participants are senior researchers such as professors, institute directors or otherwise leading senior scientists; while only a relatively small number of PhD-students and postdoctoral researchers attend.
Most of the workshops were documented in proceedings in the form of either a book, a dedicated supplemental journal volume or a commentary.