Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

The innovative wastewater-based epidemiology approach with the advances of high resolution mass spectrometry as a complementary biomonitoring tool for assessing the health status of a population

Project description

A novel biomonitoring tool for assessing exposure to toxicants

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is a powerful tool used to evaluate a population’s exposure to toxicants. The data gathered is essential for assessing health impacts and supporting environmental and health policymaking in public health programmes. However, current HBM studies have limitations that need to be overcome through novel approaches. The EU-funded NTS-EXPOSURE project therefore aims to develop non-target screening analytical methods that will be able to detect new wastewater biomarkers and assess the collective consumption of or exposure to toxicants. To do this, it proposes a novel approach called wastewater-based epidemiology as an alternative biomonitoring tool. This work will help obtain vital information to inform authorities on community health status.

Objective

Humans are continuously exposed to toxicants by different routes, with potentially adverse effects on human health. Monitoring population exposure is a crucial part of public health programs and human biomonitoring (HBM) is the most widely used and powerful tool to evaluate the exposure of a population. These data are vital for health impact assessment and to support environmental and health policy-making in public health programs. However, novel approaches are needed in order to give additional information on exposure at population level and overcome the limitations of HBM studies. In this project, an innovative approach, called Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE), is proposed as an alternative “biomonitoring tool” for the retrieval of epidemiological information from wastewater through the analysis of specific human urinary metabolites (biomarkers). Although WBE has been studied the last fifteen years, its application has been limited to target analytical methods and a few classes of compounds (i.e. illicit drugs). New methodologies such as the powerful high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) technique can opens new perspectives in the WBE field. The unique characteristics of HRMS combined with the potential of the WBE approach can give us the capability to provide valuable information for public health. Indeed, influent wastewater contains a wide range of chemical information about biological processes of the human body, which can be explored by the latest advances of HRMS and provide crucial data. The main objective is to develop non-target screening analytical methods based on HRMS coupled to liquid and gas chromatography that can detect new wastewater biomarkers and assess the collective consumption or exposure to toxicants. This project can establish and implement an integrated chemical analytical-epidemiological approach for the acquirement of crucial information and inform authorities and public health organizations on community health status.

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

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.

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.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

ETHNIKO KAI KAPODISTRIAKO PANEPISTIMIO ATHINON
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 248 016,00
Address
6 CHRISTOU LADA STR
10 561 ATHINA
Greece

See on map

Region
Αττική Aττική Κεντρικός Τομέας Αθηνών
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 248 016,00

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0