HBM4EU MB meeting minutes – March 2018

Enrieco (Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts) is a project conducted within the European Union's 7th Framework Programme [Theme 6, Environment (Including Climate Change)]. Its overall aim is to advance our knowledge on specific environment and health causal relationships in pregnancy and birth cohorts by providing support to exploitation of the wealth of data generated by past or ongoing studies funded by the EC and national programmes.

ENHIS is an evidence-based information system aiming to support public health and environmental policies in the WHO European Region. The system is an interactive database, composed of country-level indicators and regional assessments (fact sheets).

European Health Examination Survey (EHES) is an initiative to set up a system of standardized, representative health examination surveys (HES) of the adult population of the European countries.

Environmentally-induced Developmental Origins of Health and Disease project aims to characterize the impact of environmental exposures on childhood health with focus on two families of pollutants with a highly prevalent and controllable exposure in humans: atmospheric pollutants and specific high-volume non-persistent chemicals (Bisphenol A, other phenols and phthalates).

This EU project focuses on the effects of mixtures of endocrine disruptive chemicals on children. The aim is to promote safer use of chemicals for the next generation.

The European Chemical Emergency Network aims to set up an EU-level network of expert chemical health risk assessors who have experience in dealing with the acute phase of chemical incidents, ensure that experience of, and best practices adopted by, one Member State following an incident benefit other Member States and enable an efficient and coherent EU-level response to potentially devastating cross-border events through the consistent use of RASCHEM.

Developmental neurotoxicity assessment of mixtures in children.

In DEMOCOPHES, 17 European countries tested a common approach for human biomonitoring surveys which was developed by COPHES. They produced data on the distribution of specific biomarkers and related lifestyle data among defined study populations which, for the first time, are comparable on a European scale. DEMOCOPHES aims at testing “the hypothesis that HBM can be performed in a coherent and harmonised manner throughout Europe, by means of commonly developed protocols, strategies and scientific tools, ensuring reliable and comparable data, whilst also leading to a more effective use of resources”.

Developmental Effects of Environment on Reproduction: EU funded project under framework 7 (FP7/2007-2013). It is a multidisciplinary research project aiming at improving our understanding of the role of environmental factors in the development and establishment of human reproductive health.

CytoThreat addresses the need to assess the risks of pharmaceuticals released in the environment, focusing on cytostatic drugs because they are highly hazardous compounds due to their genotoxic properties which may cause unexpected long term effects.

Introduction
The main environmental problem targeted by CROME-LIFE is the assessment of the impact on human health due to exposure to chemical agents originating either from environmental contamination (air, soil, water), or from consumer products (food contact materials, construction materials, cosmetics, clothes, etc.) through multiple routes, namely inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact in five distinct areas of southern Europe (Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Spain).

This project addresses the safety assessment needs of the cosmetics industry, without the use of animals. The main aim of COSMOS is to develop freely available (open access and/or source) tools and workflows to predict the safety to humans following the use of cosmetic ingredients.

COPHES is the Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale. Funded by the EU's Seventh Framework Programme, COPHES developed harmonised protocols allowing the collection of comparable HBM data throughout Europe. Its twin project, the feasibility study DEMOCOPHES, was launched one year later to test this hypothesis and to win information on levels and major determinants of exposure in Europe, as well as to establish protocols for the translation of HBM results into concrete policy recommendations.

CONTAMED: Contaminant mixtures and human reproductive health – novel strategies for health impact and risk assessment of endocrine disrupters. CONTAMED aims to explore the hypothesis that combined exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in fetal life may lead to adverse delayed impacts on human reproductive health. To achieve this goal, CONTAMED will combine epidemiological approaches with laboratory science.

CITI-SENSE works on development of sensor-based Citizens' Observatory Community for improving quality of life in cities. The project focuses on direct engagement of citizens within the fields of air quality, environmental quality of public spaces in cities and indoor air quality in schools. Funded by the EU's Seventh Framework Programme, 2010-2016, CITI-SENSE aims to empower citizens to contribute to and participate in environmental governance, to support and influence community and societal priorities and associated decision making.

Developing a Child Cohort Research Strategy for Europe - CHICOS is a project conducted within the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme. It's overall aim is to improve child health across Europe by developing an integrated strategy for mother-child cohort research in Europe.

ChemScreen aims to provide practical solutions within the tight framework of REACH. The focus of the project is on the generation of a simple, rapid screening system for reproductive toxic chemicals, aiming at widespread implementation within the tight time schedule of the REACH program.

This project aims to realize a method, system and tools for adaptively influencing traffic in real-time. The project aims to reduce carbon dioxide CO2 and black carbon (BC) emissions caused by road transport in urban and inter-urban areas.

Bridging Information and Data Generation for Evidence-based Health policy and research. The BRIDGE Health project aims to prepare the transition towards a sustainable and integrated EU health information system for both public health and research purposes.

Developing advanced tools for exposure assessment and biomonitoring.

ACROPOLIS contributes to the development of a methodology to ensure that the missing aspects in the risk assessment of pesticides can be addressed in future risk management. This will increase trust of the consumer in safety regulation of pesticides.

Focusses on impacts on health in the Arctic and in Europe resulting from climate-induced changes in contaminant cycling.

ESBB’s mission is to advance the field of biobanking in support of research relating to healthcare, agriculture and the environment. The focus is on Europe, the Middle East and Africa.