Objective
EU member states are currently working towards the realisation of environmental goals specified in the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which aims to protect both human and ecosystem health. Microplastic particles (MPs) are emerging pollutants of increasing concern and are formed primarily when plastic waste degrades in the environment. The impacts of MPs on freshwater biota are not known, however, they may present a potentially persistent and ecotoxicological pollution problem. Accordingly, the goal of this project is to assess the environmental risk of MPs in freshwater habitats. To achieve this, a detailed investigation of MP environmental persistence will be carried out. This will provide environmental fate summaries for different polymer classes and enable the modelling of their degradation processes. This will be combined with laboratory studies to assess relevant sub-lethal endpoints such as reproduction, fitness, inflammation, and oxidative stress. As MPs are known to accumulate co-occurring organic pollutants, the toxicity of virgin MPs will be compared to MPs conditioned with relevant freshwater pollutants. This work will build towards a sophisticated state-of-the-art mesocosm study that will evaluate both MP fate and impacts in model ecosystems. The establishment of a novel framework for the environmental risk assessment of MPs will inform our ability to achieve conservation objectives taking into account MPs as emerging pollutants. The merit of this is that protection goals may be better accommodated in policy and management through the generation of so far unavailable data on MP persistence and environmental toxicity. Taken together, the project will generate so far unavailable data sets to assess for the first time the environmental impacts of freshwater MPs. Thus, the outcomes will highly relevant for academia, politics, stakeholders and society.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems freshwater ecosystems
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
60323 FRANKFURT AM MAIN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.