Projects
Current
PARC: European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals
The objective of this project is develop next-generation chemical risk assessment in order to protect health and the environment. It is coordinated by ANSES with 200 partners in 28 countries and at EU level, national agencies and research organisations working in the areas of the environment or public health, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). It is a 7 year partnership financially co-funded by the EU “Horizon Europe” framework programme under the grant agreement No. 101057014 (2021-2027).
MERLON: Merging scientific evidence with regulatory practices and leveraging identification of endocrine disruptors using new approach methodologies
MERLON is focused on EDCs (endocrine disruptor chemicals), and developing the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework especially quantitative AOP networks, and increase the availability of human-relevant NAMs (New Approach Methodology) to bridge the gap between science and policy needed to advance regulatory decision making and reduce health impacts of EDCs. Focused endpoint is reproductive toxicity after exposure to EDCs. The project is coordinated by Technical University of Denmark [DTU] with 10 other prominent EU institutions participating: 1) Vrije Universiteit, Netherland VUA, 2) Karolinska Institute, Sweden KI, 3) Research Institute For Environmental And Occupational Health, France IRSET, 4) The Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark REGIONH, 5) University of Lieg, Belgium ULIEGE, 6) Pere Virgili Institute for Health Research, Spain IISPV, 7) National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherland RIVM, 8) University of Cordoba, Spain UCO, 9) Health and Environment Alliance, Belgium HEAL, and 10) Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Norway NIVA).
Past
FlameRISK: Sources, exposure and health risk to legacy and emerging Flame retardants in Spanish indoor environments: An integrated health RISK approach
General objective of FlameRISK is to understand how and to what extent flame-retardants (FRs) are released from consumer products in Spanish indoor environments and to assess the human exposure and the associated health risks. The project will be focused not only on restricted FRs but also on the new emerging such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). In-silico tools (such as PBPK/PD and QSAR) and emerging non-animal techniques (such as in vitro targeted strategies and system toxicology) will be used to understand the neurotoxicity mechanisms of FRs. Project is funded through Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and “European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) A way of making Europe” with grant number RTI2018-095466-B-I00 (2019-2021).
HBM4EU: Human Biomonitoring for Europe
HBM4EU represent a novel collaboration between scientists and chemical risk assessors and risk managers, including several Commission services, EU agencies and national representatives. The project will build bridges between the research and policy worlds to deliver enhanced chemical safety. The research explore current questions in chemical risk assessment and management and will deliver answers that help policy makers to protect human health. Policy makers, stakeholders and scientists together shape the strategic direction of HBM4EU activities. This collaborative approach ensures that our research will generate new knowledge that addresses genuine societal concerns. HBM4EU is a joint effort of 28 countries, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission, co-funded under Horizon 2020 grant agreement No 733032(2017-2021).
NEUROSOME: A Multidisciplinary Training Network To Explore The Neurodevelopmental And Neurological Exposome
NEUROSOME is an Innovative Training Networks within H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. The main objective of the NEUROSOME project is the development of an integrated model based on real human biomonitoring data (HBM) to identify causal associations between early environmental exposures, the human genome, and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, the project is based on the evaluation and re-analysis of biological samples collected in existing birth cohorts (PHIME, INMA, PROBE) and in the context of a cross-Mediterranean cohort study set up specifically within NEUROSOME. The project is focused on exposure to mixtures of heavy metals and organic compounds (phthalates, plasticizers, pyrethroids, organophosphate pesticides and brominated and organophosphate flame retardants), but will also consider the role of modulation and the synergistic or additive effects of other intrinsic (such as genetic susceptibility) and extrinsic (such as diet and socio-economic status) environmental stressors. This requires the synthesis among different scientific disciplines, including environmental and exposure modelling, recent advances in toxicology (including in vitro, in vivo and in silico aspects) with a special focus on omics technologies and bioinformatics, as well as environmental epidemiology, taking stock of gene- and exposomewide associations. We present here the work so far performed by some of the partners, based on the real exposure scenario of children to heavy metals. It was supported by European Union Horizon 2020 MSCA-ITN Grant No. 766251 (2017-2022).
EarlyFOOD: Long-term impact of gestational and early-life dietary habits on infant gut immunity and disease risk
The proposed program aims to exhaustively analyze the long-term health impact on children exposed to antibodies, metabolites and toxins found in breast milk and dietary products. It focused on identification of high-risk dietary profiles and environmental factors, such as pollutants and life style impact on food safety and quality. It assisted in developing prognostic and diagnostic tools based on an individual’s metabolomics, immune-microbial and exposome profiles associated with dietary habits. This project aimed to provide guidance in future health care campaigns in Europe and beyond, and may direct gut and vaginal microbiota therapy (prebiotics, probiotics and transplantation) in the perspective of preventing metabolic and allergic diseases as well as neurobehavioral pathology. It was funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Joint Programming Initiative - A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL), PCIN-2017-012 (2018-2020).
EUROMIX: European Test and Risk Assessment Strategies For Mixtures
The goal is develop a bioassay toolbox using well-established bioassays in cell lines and primary cells in combination with omics technology for quantitative in-vitro screening mixtures, of particular use for a mechanism-based refined grouping of chemicals. Also, the project aimed to verify the toolbox of in silico methods and in vitro bioassays against in vivo animal tests, and comparing the results with human biomarkers and to create a web-based platform of models and data openly accessible to scientists and other stakeholders involved in the human health risk assessment of food chemicals. This was supported by European Union H2020-SFS-2014-2015, grant agreement number 633172 (2015-2019).
HEALS: Health and Environment-wide Associations based on Large population Surveys
The general objective of HEALS is the refinement of an integrated methodology and the application of the corresponding analytical and computational tools for performing environment-wide association studies in support of EU-wide environment and health assessments. The exposome represents the totality of exposures from conception onwards, simultaneously identifying, characterizing and quantifying the exogenous and endogenous exposures and modifiable risk factors that predispose to and predict diseases throughout a person’s life span. The HEALS approach brings together and organizes environmental, socio-economic, exposure, biomarker and health effect data; in addition, it includes all the procedures and computational sequences necessary for applying advanced bioinformatics coupling thus effective data mining, biological and exposure modeling so as to ensure that environmental exposure-health associations are studied comprehensively. The overall approach will be verified and refined in a series of population studies across Europe including twin cohorts, tackling different levels of environmental exposure, age windows of exposure, and socio-economic and genetic variability. The HEALS approach will be applied in a pilot environment and health examination survey of children including singletons and sets of twins with matched singletons (each twins pair having also a matched singleton) covering ten EU Member States (the EXHES Study). It was funded by European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 603946 (2013-2017).