Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AURORA (Actionable eUropean ROadmap for early-life health Risk Assessment of micro- and nanoplastics)
Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-09-30
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are everywhere, and humans are increasingly exposed to them through air, water, and food. Disconcertingly, very little is known about the uptake of MNPs in the human body, nor about their kinetics (distribution), accumulation, and biological and health consequences. There is currently no roadmap indicating research directions and priorities.
The AURORA project (https://auroraresearch.eu/) will address roadblocks in MNP exposure assessment by advancing analytical methods for measuring MNPs in human tissues. The project focuses on MNP exposure and toxicological effects during pregnancy, in utero, and in early life. These are periods that are critical for development and health later in life, and of heightened vulnerability to environmental insults.
AURORA will assess MNP exposure at three levels (maternal, maternal/fetal interface, and fetal) and will address the effects of MNPs on early-life and female reproductive health (including perturbations to placental function, immune-inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, accelerated aging, endocrine function, and growth and development).
As much of the research on the impact of MNPs on early-life health is in its infancy, AURORA will provide a first and important step in method and knowledge development in relation to MNP risk assessment of early-life health. The newly developed understanding, methods, and tools will inform remaining knowledge and technology gaps that need to be addressed for coming to a comprehensive risk assessment of MNP exposure and early-life health and that will be disseminated through an Actionable eUropean ROadmap for early-life health Risk Assessment of micro- and nanoplastics (AURORA).
AURORA is working towards five research objectives and two support objectives:
1. Exposure characterization: to develop analytical methods and techniques for in-depth characterization of MNPs in maternal and fetal human sample matrices
2. Scalable exposure assessment: to develop a high-throughput analytical workflow with scalable methods and techniques for quantitively assessing maternal and fetal exposure to MNPs in large population cohorts
3. Toxicology: to assess toxicity, toxicokinetics and -dynamics of MNPs in experimental models
4. Epidemiology: to determine the relationship between MNP exposure and female reproductive and early-life health
5. Advance risk assessment: to develop an actionable roadmap for risk assessment of MNPs
A. Dissemination and impact: to integrate and translate the research results for stakeholders
B. Consortium management: to manage the project, coordinate the activities across the partners’ activities, and coordinate with the other CUSP research cluster projects
The AURORA project (https://auroraresearch.eu/) will address roadblocks in MNP exposure assessment by advancing analytical methods for measuring MNPs in human tissues. The project focuses on MNP exposure and toxicological effects during pregnancy, in utero, and in early life. These are periods that are critical for development and health later in life, and of heightened vulnerability to environmental insults.
AURORA will assess MNP exposure at three levels (maternal, maternal/fetal interface, and fetal) and will address the effects of MNPs on early-life and female reproductive health (including perturbations to placental function, immune-inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, accelerated aging, endocrine function, and growth and development).
As much of the research on the impact of MNPs on early-life health is in its infancy, AURORA will provide a first and important step in method and knowledge development in relation to MNP risk assessment of early-life health. The newly developed understanding, methods, and tools will inform remaining knowledge and technology gaps that need to be addressed for coming to a comprehensive risk assessment of MNP exposure and early-life health and that will be disseminated through an Actionable eUropean ROadmap for early-life health Risk Assessment of micro- and nanoplastics (AURORA).
AURORA is working towards five research objectives and two support objectives:
1. Exposure characterization: to develop analytical methods and techniques for in-depth characterization of MNPs in maternal and fetal human sample matrices
2. Scalable exposure assessment: to develop a high-throughput analytical workflow with scalable methods and techniques for quantitively assessing maternal and fetal exposure to MNPs in large population cohorts
3. Toxicology: to assess toxicity, toxicokinetics and -dynamics of MNPs in experimental models
4. Epidemiology: to determine the relationship between MNP exposure and female reproductive and early-life health
5. Advance risk assessment: to develop an actionable roadmap for risk assessment of MNPs
A. Dissemination and impact: to integrate and translate the research results for stakeholders
B. Consortium management: to manage the project, coordinate the activities across the partners’ activities, and coordinate with the other CUSP research cluster projects
The AURORA project (auroraresearch.eu) has, in the first 18 months of the project, laid the groundwork to develop a roadmap for human health risk assessment of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in early-life. Partners have made substantial advances in developing protocols for characterizing, detecting and quantifying micro- and nanoplastics in human tissues, notably placenta. We established a database of infrared spectroscopy data measured on different polymers before and after exposure to weathering or laboratory processing. We developed a method to synthesize various polymers in the nano-range with and without two types of fluorescent dye (i.e. fluoro-nanoplastic test materials for toxicological and characterization experiments), increasing the battery of test MNPs available from commercial suppliers and the CUSP consortium. We developed protocols for tissue digestion of tissues, focusing on placenta samples, a step required for future in situ detection of non-spiked or real-world samples. We advanced analytical methods for measuring MNPs using both mass-based and imaging techniques. This included developing microwave-assisted extraction procedures and pyrolysis and alkaline-assisted hydrolysis assays for robust, sensitive, and high-throughput quantification of MNPs in placenta. We screened the first test MNPs in in vitro placenta cultures and are moving towards more complex assays. We also collected, selected and shipped samples from European birth cohorts to the analytical laboratories where characterization is ongoing. We established a protocol for assessing household determinants of MNP exposure and the impact of food packaging; we received ethical approval for this study and recruitment will soon start. We are carrying out a systematic evidence mapping of existing analytical and regulatory approaches and gaps for human health risk assessment of MNPs. Lastly, AURORA members have actively contributed to the working groups in the CUSP cluster of projects (cusp-research.eu) and organized the first thematic workshop for the CUSP community on exposure metrics.
AURORA will develop an actionable European roadmap for early-life risk assessment of MNP exposure. Pregnancy and early life are important stages to assess because the developing fetus and children are more vulnerable than adults to many environmental risk factors. Although current risk paradigms exist for (nano)particles and chemicals, these are insufficient to assess the potential risks of MNP exposure, during early life in particular.
In addition to a roadmap for risk assessment (Figure 2), the AURORA project will progress beyond the state of the art by delivering
• Methods and tools for in-depth characterization of MNPs in human samples;
• Scalable methods and tools for MNP exposure assessment in human populations;
• New insights into the toxicological effects of MNPs on placental integrity and function, system homeostasis, and early-life development;
• First-ever insights into early-life health effects of MNP exposure through explorative studies in birth cohorts, using the scalable methods developed for exposure assessment.
In addition to a roadmap for risk assessment (Figure 2), the AURORA project will progress beyond the state of the art by delivering
• Methods and tools for in-depth characterization of MNPs in human samples;
• Scalable methods and tools for MNP exposure assessment in human populations;
• New insights into the toxicological effects of MNPs on placental integrity and function, system homeostasis, and early-life development;
• First-ever insights into early-life health effects of MNP exposure through explorative studies in birth cohorts, using the scalable methods developed for exposure assessment.