NTS-EXPOSURE · 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
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-11-01 → 2023-10-31
- EU contribution
- €248,016
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
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
Monitoring drug use, chemical exposure, lifestyle habits, human behavior and aspects of public health is a crucial part of community health programs, since national authorities and international organizations/committees aim to provide scientific safety advice, assess risks to human health and protect public health from risks posed by chemicals. Traditional techniques (e.g., human biomonitoring, cohort studies, and surveys) present some limitations that can be overcome with the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach. WBE is an innovative approach for the retrieval of epidemiological information from wastewater. Analysis of untreated wastewater is important for the society, since it can provide: objective and real time information on human exposure to substances, at reduced complexity and cost compared to other methodologies; rapid identification of any increase and/or decrease of particular substances within a surveyed area; information of the effectiveness of preventive programs before, during and after the intervention; all needed data without ethical risks; monitoring pandemics and the effectiveness of the taken measures at reduced time. This project aims to develop a novel methodology in order to assess the community health status. The unique characteristics of high-resolution mass spectrometry combined with census data and the potential of the WBE approach provides valuable information for public health. Indeed, wastewater contains a wide range of chemical information about human biological processes and, thus, specific biomarkers could act as indicators of population exposure, stress, disease or health. The main objective is to enhance the assessment level of human exposure/consumption to chemicals, and to gain evidence-based information on their diffusion. This project can establish and implement an integrated chemical analytical-epidemiological approach to improve the identification and assessment of biomarkers and monitor the health status in Europe.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project 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.
Original text from CORDIS.
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Data: CORDIS, © European Union