Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EXPOSOGAS (The Exposome Paradigm and its Applications in Health and Safety Aspects of Hydrocarbons Operations in the Eastern Mediterranean)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-12-01 bis 2021-12-31
The inspiration for the EXPOSOGAS project stemmed from the discovery of large natural gas reserves in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ultimate mission of the EXPOSOGAS project is to substantially increase the knowledge and capacity of the Coordinating (Widening) Institution (the Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health within the Cyprus University of Technology (CII-CUT)) in better understanding and evaluating the health risks associated with oil and gas activities, using the novel concept of the human exposome and its tools. This will allow for future research initiatives and promote targeted training and professional development in the field. The concept of the Exposome was defined by Dr. Wild (IARC) as the characterization of lifetime environmental exposures including the endogenous response. This groundbreaking concept may advance exposure assessment in epidemiological work; in parallel, it would be also valuable in the case of occupational exposures. The research and innovation capacity building in the Widening Institution is achieved with the active participation of two Advanced research performance Institutions, these being the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) in the UK and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). The project also entails the better and more harmonized linkage of the consortium with the related policy makers and stakeholders on health issues pertaining to oil and gas activities at all levels from upstream to downstream.
The overall objectives are the following:
1. Improve scientific background and technical knowledge of CII-CUT for the development of occupational and environmental public health studies within and around gas/oil operations.
2. Develop relationships between CII-CUT with local, national and international stakeholders to facilitate partnerships for future research benefiting the oil and gas industry, again to increase the chances of future funding for CII-CUT research on Exposome and health.
3. Develop resources and expertise for current staff and students of the Widening Institution in the field of Exposome research.
The overall objectives are the following:
1. Improve scientific background and technical knowledge of CII-CUT for the development of occupational and environmental public health studies within and around gas/oil operations.
2. Develop relationships between CII-CUT with local, national and international stakeholders to facilitate partnerships for future research benefiting the oil and gas industry, again to increase the chances of future funding for CII-CUT research on Exposome and health.
3. Develop resources and expertise for current staff and students of the Widening Institution in the field of Exposome research.
At different levels, significant steps have already been made within EXPOSOGAS to improve the capacity of CII-CUT staff and students. The MSc and PhD students and postdocs/young researchers of CII-CUT had the opportunity to develop an understanding for the concept of the human exposome and its tools via onsite lectures, practical sessions as well as webinars. The Advanced Institutions (TNO & IOM) facilitated the participation of CII-CUT in EPHOR, a new large H2020 occupational Exposome project. This will create excellent opportunities for establishing new contacts and scientific networking in exposome research and the areas of innovative exposure assessment, epidemiology, health impact assessment, omics technology, analytical chemistry, databasing for CII-CUT. A number of manuscript reviews have been undertaken, one of which already published, and these will provide a resource for development of future research proposals and help further increase the visibility of CII-CUT. An exchange program of researchers visiting TNO facilities for training is under discussion and the first CII-CUT researcher will visit the TNO premises on early February 2020. Regarding the establishment of professional relationships with key people related to the hydrocarbons industry in Cyprus, we identified key stakeholders from the industry, government and academia and engaged with them systematically via phone and face to face meetings. These stakeholder engagement efforts were culminated by the organization of two-stakeholder workshops organized by the EXPOSOGAS consortium. These workshops were attended by key stakeholders involved with the oil and gas industry in Cyprus and provided great insight on the issues and challenges for EXPOSOGAS to consider. We performed interviews with a large number of stakeholders in Cyprus (>15 unique organizations), and this was proven helpful in order to understand their concerns and the knowledge gaps that need to be filled, for the effective implementation of EU policies regarding health aspects for workers and for the general community. Through the second stakeholder workshop, we had the opportunity to discuss in person with representatives from 7 influential organizations in Cyprus, key issues relating to the health aspects of the foreseen gas and oil developments in Cyprus and training topics emerged that could serve for the advancement of CII-CUT students’ skills and knowledge via student project. We were able to communicate the results of the project to date to the public and stakeholders, through various means, such as the project website (https://www.exposogas.eu(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) social media (https://www.facebook.com/exposogas.project(öffnet in neuem Fenster) https://twitter.com/exposogas(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) LinkedIn network (https://www.linkedin.com/company/exposogas(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) newsletters, newspaper articles, seminars and participation in conferences and related events.
By the end of the project, it is expected that the CII-CUT staff will be trained and capable of undertaking an exposome-based health impact assessment of gas/oil operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. The CII-CUT is expected to raise its research profile by publishing in high-impact peer-review scientific journals, by preparing research ideas that transform to strong research proposals and by communicating research results to the wider public using social media and a dedicated project website. Other expected results of the project are the organisation of short-term staff exchange visits, a summer school and an international conference by the end of the project.
The so far impact of the project can be summarized to the below:
•Improvement of skills and knowledge for the CII-CUT staff in the field of the Exposome applications for health impact assessment for gas/oil operations – This was achieved with a series of training sessions and webinars. The CII-CUT staff training will continue further with staff exchange visits and tools sharing. The participants of the training sessions provided positive feedback about the content and structure of the sessions and they were very interested about the practical use of sensors.
•Networking and creation of links with several stakeholders and identification of specific needs for the oil/gas sector through stakeholder workshops, interviews, email and phone communication
•Facilitation of scientific exposure and networking of CII-CUT– Participation in conferences: ISES 2019, ISEE 2019, ISES-ISIAQ 2019, Exposome symposium 2019, publication of scoping review on the characteristics of human exposome studies
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40726-019-00130-7(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) and participation in a newly funded H2020 project (EPHOR)
•Communication and dissemination of the project to the public with seminars and expert invitations
•Opportunity for infrastructure access that will further widen the capacity of the CII-CUT
•The performance indicators have not yet changed much since baseline, but we are only in the 15 month period of the project. This is expected to positively change in the next following months.
The so far impact of the project can be summarized to the below:
•Improvement of skills and knowledge for the CII-CUT staff in the field of the Exposome applications for health impact assessment for gas/oil operations – This was achieved with a series of training sessions and webinars. The CII-CUT staff training will continue further with staff exchange visits and tools sharing. The participants of the training sessions provided positive feedback about the content and structure of the sessions and they were very interested about the practical use of sensors.
•Networking and creation of links with several stakeholders and identification of specific needs for the oil/gas sector through stakeholder workshops, interviews, email and phone communication
•Facilitation of scientific exposure and networking of CII-CUT– Participation in conferences: ISES 2019, ISEE 2019, ISES-ISIAQ 2019, Exposome symposium 2019, publication of scoping review on the characteristics of human exposome studies
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40726-019-00130-7(öffnet in neuem Fenster)) and participation in a newly funded H2020 project (EPHOR)
•Communication and dissemination of the project to the public with seminars and expert invitations
•Opportunity for infrastructure access that will further widen the capacity of the CII-CUT
•The performance indicators have not yet changed much since baseline, but we are only in the 15 month period of the project. This is expected to positively change in the next following months.