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Project title

Human Biomonitoring for Ireland (HBM4IE) environmental chemical exposure study

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

Alison Connolly

Project Abstract

A key deliverable of initiatives such as the European Green Deal and the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability is the EU Action Plan: "Towards a Zero Pollution", a vision to reduce pollution to levels not considered harmful to health and the natural ecosystems and to create a toxic-free environment. The EU has identified several emerging issues, particularly an increasing body of evidence demonstrating that citizens' health is adversely affected by hazardous chemicals, an imminent issue with chemical production is expected to almost quadruple by 2050. These ambitious goals highlight the urgent need to measure our progress toward the zero pollution action plan's targets, understand the likelihood of achieving these goals, and to have outlook mechanisms for the early detection of emerging issues. Though mechanisms exist to measure and evaluate individual exposure sources (i.e. soil/water/air), there is a need for a more robust method to evaluate exposures from all pollution sources. Human biomonitoring (HBM), described as the 'gold standard' of chemical risk assessment tools, analyses biological materials (e.g., blood, serum, urine) to measure chemical exposure levels occurring from all routes of exposure. HBM data has played a significant role in regulatory decision-making for restricting/banning substances (e.g. phthalates), is utilised to measure the success of environmental policies and acts as an early warning system. HBM is probably the single, most effective method of obtaining realistic exposure data regarding multiple and aggregated chemical exposures from different sources. Significant advancements in human biomonitoring harmonisation have been demonstrated through the Human Biomonitoring for Europe (HBM4EU) framework (2017- 2021), and currently, the Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC) 2021-2027 framework, and Ireland is one of the contributing countries. PARC's ambition is for multi/trans-disciplinary expert groups to collaborate to advance our knowledge on chemical pollution, contribute to the next-generation risk assessment, and support evidence-based European policy-making. HBM4IE will collect human biomonitoring samples (i.e. blood/serum/urine) from the Irish adult population to evaluate environmental exposures for ten compounds of concern, including phthalates, pesticides, metals, Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) among others. These protocols and chemical analyses will be executed using harmonised protocols and procedures with PARC collaborators across Europe to enable cross-boundary evaluation and determine the chemicals of national concern compared to EU counterparts. Furthermore, robust sampling protocols and qualitative data will be analysed to identify exposure sources, future trends, and hotspots and provide targeted remediation strategies. This interdisciplinary project will include international engagement to tackle major environmental issues. HBM4IE will produce quantifiable data on environmental exposure to pollutants from all routes of exposure to evaluate the progress toward our zero pollution goals and contribute to furthering the health and well-being of the people of Ireland and protecting our national environment, which will assist policy-makers in developing new or refining policies to reduce their impact on the environment and people. HBM4IE outputs will also align with EPA objectives to put science and innovative methods at the centre of environmental protection in Ireland and provide a clean, protected environment for our health and quality of life.

Grant Approved

€659,415.71

Research Hub

Delivering a Healthy Environment

Research Theme

Towards Zero Pollution

Start Date

01/02/2025

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/01/2029