Registration is open for the 4th EXIMIOUS Symposium

Mapping Exposure-Induced Immune Effects: Connecting the Exposome and the Immunome

Registration is open for the 4th EXIMIOUS Symposium

6 December 2022

The fourth EXIMIOUS Symposium, titled “Do chemicals penetrate human skin? How skin absorption of chemicals contributes to human exposure”, will take place on 26 January 2023. Register now and join us online at 16:00 – 18:00 (CET) to learn more about skin exposure to chemicals.

What happens when the human skin comes into contact with particular chemicals? To what extent do they get absorbed into the body, and what are the health effects?

Our invited guest speakers will present their latest research on internal exposure and toxicity, skin exposure to metals, and the exposure of firefighters’ instructors. A dedicated time for Q&A will follow each of the presentations. Like our previous symposia, this fourth EXIMIOUS Symposium is open to all audiences.

Programme EXIMIOUS Symposium
Do chemicals penetrate human skin? How skin absorption of chemicals contributes to human exposure
Time Title Speaker

16:00 - 16:15

Welcome and introduction from the EXIMIOUS coordinator

Prof. Peter Hoet
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

16:15 - 16:50

Why ADME and ToxicoKinetics are pivotal to know: internal exposure as ‘missing link’ between exposure and toxicity

Dr. Jos Bessems
VITO, Belgium

16:50 - 17:25

Systemic dose of metals – the role of skin penetration, reservoir and absorption

Dr. Anneli Julander
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Sweden

17:25 - 18:00

External and internal exposure of firefighters’ instructors to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Dr. Jeroen Vanoirbeek
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Speakers

Dr. Jos Bessems has been active in supporting chemicals management in the EU since 1996. He contributed to OECD Test Guideline development, the REACH Implementation Project, as well as the ECHA REACH Guidance. At VITO, Jos is working on tools for human biomonitoring as well as on how to increase its regulatory acceptance and use under the flag ‘policy support environment and health’  for Flemish, Belgian as well as European authorities. He also supports the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission’s Directorate General Environment (DG ENV) in early warning systems, classification and labelling and ‘substances of very high concern’. Jos is co-founder and board member of ISES Europe, contributed to its European Strategy for Exposure Science and is co-chairing its human biomonitoring working group.

Dr. Anneli Julander holds a PhD in Environmental Science from Örebro University in 2004. She continued her research career at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, where she received her appointment to Docent in Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2014. Anneli is currently working at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute as a senior researcher and work environment expert. Her research area is to study how toxic and allergenic chemicals interact with human skin and causes local and systemic effects.

Dr. Jeroen Vanoirbeek graduated in 1999 as master in Biology. In 2004 he obtained his PhD at the KU Leuven. His research focused on chemical-induced asthma and specifically the mechanisms of the skin-lung interactions in relation to chemical sensitization. Currently, he leads the Laboratory for Occupational and Environmental Hygiene in the Centre for Environment and Health at the KU Leuven. His main research topics are respiratory and skin exposure assessment, in combination with biological monitoring; clinical-epidemiological research on occupational health; and mechanisms of skin-lung inaction of chemicals in experimental models. In his current appointment, he is responsible for teaching occupational hygiene and prevention management.