Best chemical risk assessment professionals for maximum Ecosystem Services benefit

Project Information

PRORISK

Grant agreement ID: 859891

DOI

10.3030/859891

Project closed

EC signature date 27 March 2020

Start date 1 April 2020

End date 31 March 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 4 024 982,52

EU contribution

€ 4 024 982,52

Coordinated by

Masarykova univerzita
Czechia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PRORISK (Best chemical risk assessment professionals for maximum Ecosystem Services benefit)

Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

How can we advance protection of ecosystems against effects of hazardous and toxic chemicals? What novel approaches, tools and knowledge should be integrated to assure that chemicals are properly assessed, managed, and their impacts on ecosystem services are minimized? These are the questions driving the PRORISK training network.

It is recognized that human wellbeing and economic prosperity of the society depend on the sustainable use of ecosystems. To allow for sustainable functioning, biodiversity needs to be maintained and restored, and ecosystem service thinking as well as valuation of socio-economic costs associated with ecosystem service damage need to be implemented into policy and decision making. In parallel to other global threats such as climate change, ubiquitous environmental pollution by hazardous chemicals is a major factor affecting ecosystem functioning and human health. In parallel, major advances are achieved in technologies such as non-target screening of chemicals, toxicogenomics, or novel predictive approaches such as Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) that link toxic effects at different levels of biological hierarchy. Nevertheless, the existing regulatory assessment of chemicals still relies on simplified (eco)toxicological testing, which is mostly disconnected both mechanistic knowledge and protection of ecosystem functions.

The overarching goal of PRORISK was to address this gap by proposing an integrative next generation Environmental Risk Assessment (NG-ERA) framework and test the NG-ERA framework in model case studies addressing ecosystem services of both terrestrial ecosystem (crop productivity) and aquatic ecosystem (recreational fishery). PRORISK thus aimed to train a new cohort of broadly educated Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) capable to advance future chemical risk assessment.

Individual ESRs´ research projects aimed:
• To develop novel approaches for assessing exposures and evaluation of chemical-biological interactions
• To advance understanding of toxicokinetics in the context of abiotic stressors such as changing climate
• To prepare a suite of molecular and cellular tools, functional whole organism assays as well as bioinformatics approaches supporting development of (quantitative) (q)AOPs
• To build several novel (q)AOPs for priority neuro/developmental, physiological and endocrine disruption-related adverse outcomes
• To establish ecological production functions allowing to translate effects measured on biological models to ecosystem services
• To draft an approach for assessing stressor risk to multiple ecosystem services provided by assemblages of species
• To develop an integrated NG-ERA framework linking exposures to chemicals with AOPs up to the ecosystem services
• To advance tools for estimating the socio-economic consequences of chemical impacts on ecosystem services

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

PRORISK was extremely lucky and recruited 15 highly motivated, hard working and determined ESRs who pro-actively formed a lively team working on their individual research projects. COVID-19 had strong impact on onboarding and initial networking among ESRs as well as on the start of the research, when ESRs remained isolated home without interaction with colleagues and without access to locked hosting institutions. Nevertheless, due to the diligence and determination of ESRs and all PRORISK team, the initial delays were successfully overcome and the plans were fully implemented without major deviations.

PRORISK developed a coherent and attractive training programme through strong collaboration of academic, regulatory and industry experts. It advanced both research skills and transferable and career skills. The activities included five Advanced Training Schools, orchestrated secondments, series of integrative workshops on ecosystem services and NG-ERA case studies. As of May 2024, 5 ESRs successfully defended PhD and continue careers as postdoctoral researchers in academia or experts in regulatory agencies.

PRORISK delivered multiple advancements to science from which following can be highlighted:
• Extensive prioritizations of hazardous chemicals at the European scale from different classes - pharmaceuticals, pesticides, perfluorinated compounds
• Knowledge on molecular mechanisms beyond the interactions of environmental parameters with biological effects showing thus the evidence that risks of contaminants are likely to increase in a warmer and dryer changing climate
• Complex AOPs that not only advance knowledge but directly support risk assessors at the global scale
• Higher tier microcosm studies that allowed to extrapolate from individual effects to populations
• Modelling tools linking the individual effects of chemical exposures (feeding, reproduction) to higher population levels, catchment scales and ecosystem services
• Advanced approaches to quantify the chemical damage on ecosystem services up to the socio-economic life cycle assessment
• Socio-economic tools evaluating the perception of chemical risks in the society

The scientific performance is documented by numerous presentations and publications with 22 papers of the ESRs published in high quality scientific journals and 28 additional in draft as of May 2024.

Dissemination of PRORISK mission and outcomes to diverse audiences was achieved through updated website (https://prorisk-h2020.eu/) social media (https://twitter.com/PRORISK_H2020; https://www.linkedin.com/company/prorisk-h2020/) series of newsletters or professional PRORISK video. Dissemination culminated in the final workshop with stakeholders organized in Amsterdam, NL, in October 2023. The workshop disseminated the outcomes and collected positive feedback from representatives of all domains including international regulatory bodies (ECHA, EFSA, OECD), national authorities (RIVM, US EPA), industry partners, consultancy companies and academic researchers.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PRORISK delivered answers to the key questions raised above and outlined a novel framework for the next generation ERA that was positively evaluated and accepted by the stakeholders. The PRORISK outcomes directly support implementation of the EU strategies, namely Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, which is a part of the Green Deal commitment and EU´s zero pollution action plan. The outcomes are particularly relevant for regulations such as REACH, PPP regulation, ERA of medicinal products or EU Water Framework Directive. The proposed NG-ERA framework also addresses the interests of EFSA´s Roadmap for Action on the Application of Omics and Bioinformatics Approaches in Risk Assessment or EC JRC recommendations on Adverse Outcome Pathways. On a global scale, AOP #360 is endorsed by OECD to be used by the Risk Assessors.

Through involvement of industry partners, PRORISK brought benefits to know-how and expertise of businesses and consultancies by advanced risk assessment tools, quantitative risk evaluations and ecotoxicological approaches. PRORISK legacy includes international initiatives such as NORMAN, PARC or EIRENE.

Overall, PRORISK stimulated public discussions about environmental and health topics, increased awareness of holistic risks of chemicals, and is thus expected to contribute to improvement of the quality and sustainability of life of European citizens.

prorisk-network.png