Project description
Health impacts of plastic pollution and ‘forever chemicals’
In recent years, the proliferation of microplastics, tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, has reached alarming levels, permeating our environment and posing a growing threat to human health – from the air we breathe to the water we drink. They are even making their way into our bodies, posing a potential health crisis. Adding to the concern is the widespread contamination of ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS, which have been linked to cancer and persist in our surroundings indefinitely. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the METABOLISM project will harness advanced physico-chemical and biophysical techniques to understand the interaction between PFAS, microplastics and living systems. This will provide valuable insights into the adhesion forces at play and quantify the damage caused to cell machinery.
Objective
"In recent years, the number of microplastics (plastic particles smaller than 5 mm) in the environment has exploded and is expected to continue to increase in the coming years. They are now found in the air we breathe, in drinkable water, in food and even in human blood or organs. Unfortunately, this pollution issue is accentuated by the environmental contamination with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), known as ""forever chemicals"" and linked to cancer problems. These chemicals are also found everywhere, up to the human body and tend to adsorb on plastics. However, the understanding of the interaction of PFAS or microplastics with complex shapes, sizes and chemical compositions on living systems is missing. METABOLISM seeks therefore at adapting physicochemical and biophysical techniques and models to understand the adsorption/attachment of these systems, the stretching dynamics and the unzipping mechanism of lipid bilayers, mimicking cell membranes in the presence of contaminants. The project aims at developing an integrated platform to simultaneously image and measure the stress distribution within the bilayers and the adhesion forces at play, in order to quantify the dysfunction of the cell machinery. The stability of lung cells will also be probed to have new insight into the damaging induced by pollution on relevant living systems. Gaining understanding about this problematic will provide important new knowledge on the impact of contaminants on health and highlight the need to improve remediation strategies."
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.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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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.
48940 Leioa
Spain
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.