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The Occupational Exposome Week has concluded with resounding success, bringing together over 500 participants from across Europe and beyond to explore the latest developments in occupational exposure science. Held from 20–26 March 2025, this five-part webinar series was jointly organised by the EXIMIOUS and EPHOR projects, both funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and members of the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN).
Designed as a stakeholder-focused knowledge exchange forum, the event offered a unique platform for experts, researchers, policymakers, occupational health professionals, and the general public to engage in critical discussions on measuring, analysing and acting on the occupational exposome — the total of environmental and workplace exposures experienced over a lifetime.
The event featured five dedicated sessions, each delving into key topics and tools shaping the future of occupational exposure science. The full programme can be viewed online.
The Occupational Exposome Week served as an incentive for interdisciplinary dialogue, raising awareness and advancing tools that bridge the gap between scientific discovery and public health application. The organisers express their gratitude to all speakers, participants, and the European Commission for making this event a success.
Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, EXIMIOUS and EPHOR focus on delivering a new way of assessing the human exposome, specifically the occupational exposome. Both projects are part of the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN).
The symposia are open to all audiences and will explore key topics related to occupational exposure. Each session will feature one or two presentations, followed by a dedicated Q&A session to address your questions and/or a discussion on future application.
Program OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSOME WEEK Joint stakeholder events EXIMIOUS-EPHOR
EURO JEM Thursday, 20 March 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
EuroJEM is a tool designed for conducting occupational exposure assessments in large populations where individual exposure data is unavailable. It includes a comprehensive set of job-exposure matrices (JEMs) that cover a wide range of occupational exposures across Europe. It is built upon harmonized, high-quality JEMs from multiple countries, and also incorporates newly developed JEMs. The result is a robust tool that addresses some of the most prevalent and significant occupational exposures in the labor market. In this webinar we will update you about the content of the EuroJEM and we explain how it can be used.
Exposure assessment from an exposome approach Friday, 21 March 2025, 09:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Measuring at the workplace can be challenging. It is important to comply with regulatory standards as it ensures the health and safety of workers but also e.g. minimize the risk of legal consequences. In this webinar we will update you on the relevant standards when measuring at the workplace. In addition, many practical considerations are important when assessing the exposure. How to measure but also how to engage with workers? In part two of this webinar we provide you with practical tips.
Speakers:
Steven Verpaele/Pieter Bertier, BeCOH, “Workplace Exposure Assessment: Setting the Standard”
Rani Claus, KU Leuven, “Practical Considerations for Sampling Campaigns”
European occupational exposure exploration tool Friday, 21 March 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
This tool can be used to identify and prioritize jobs, exposures or health outcomes taking into account the size of the national or European population exposed. During this webinar we provide a demo and discuss specific applications for policy makers, OSH professionals and researchers. This tool was developed based on EuroJEM.
Speaker: Calvin Ge, TNO, “Interactive tool on exposures by occupational group”
Exposure assessment case studies Tuesday, 25 March 2025, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
How do you measure the exposome and how do you study the effect of multiple exposure on health outcomes? In this webinar we look at the methods and first results of a short-term study on respiratory health in a large population. Advanced and novel methods are explained, together forming an integrated approach. In addition, important considerations in this study and for future studies are discussed.
Speakers:
Miranda Loh, IOM, “An Integrated Approach for Assessing the External Exposome”
Vivi Schlünssen, Aarhus University, “Experiences case studies on respiratory health”
Workplace exposure and disease Wednesday, 26 March 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
In this webinar we combine overall insights on occupational diseases with practical cases of workplace related diseases observed in the clinic. What is the impact of various exposures on certain health endpoint, bringing the data together from various epidemiological studies using more novel approaches to analyze? And how do we recognize occupational diseases and what is the impact of often chronical exposures? These questions and more will be answered in this webinar.
Speakers:
Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum, STAMI, “Occupational exposures and noncommunicable diseases”
Steven Ronsmans, KU Leuven, “Example cases EXIMIOUS on immune-mediated diseases”
The EXIMIOUS project hosted its seventh and final symposium titled “Emerging Contaminants: Health Risks Associated with Microplastics and Indoor Air Quality” on 31 October 2024. Conducted online, this event brought together over 50 experts and attendees from across Europe, offering key insights into the human health implications of exposure to microplastics and indoor air pollutants. The symposium, held from 15:00 to 17:00 CET, was led by EXIMIOUS Coordinator Prof. Peter Hoet from KU Leuven, Belgium, and featured presentations from three prominent researchers.
The symposium began with an introductory address from Prof. Hoet, who highlighted the importance of understanding emerging contaminants (ECs) as environmental factors influencing human health. He outlined the objectives of the symposium to examine how air quality and EC exposure impact health and to explore methods of risk assessment for these contaminants.
Insights into Microplastics and Health Impacts
The first speaker, Dr. Raymond Pieters from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, discussed the complexities of assessing the health risks posed by micro- and nanoplastics (MNP). His presentation, Human Risk Assessment of Microplastics, underscored that while primary MNPs show limited effects on the immune system, weathered MNPs with altered surface chemistry may have a heightened impact. Dr. Pieters presented data suggesting that exposure to traffic-related particulate matter (TWP) is linked to increased levels of blood leukocytes in humans, underscoring the need for further research into the biological impact of weathered plastic particles.
Air Quality and Children’s Cognitive Development
Prof. Xavier Basagaña from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) presented on Air Quality and Children’s Cognition, with a Focus on School Air Quality. His research explored how traffic-related air pollution is potentially associated with cognitive development, especially in school-aged children. Prof. Basagaña highlighted the role of indoor air quality during school and commuting hours in contributing to personal exposure, stressing that interventions to improve air quality in these settings are essential. He called for more studies examining the interplay of various indoor air parameters and their potential cognitive effects on children, along with strategies to mitigate these risks.
Health Risks from Chemicals Leaching from Plastics
Dr. Hubert Dirven from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health presented findings on the pervasive exposure to chemicals leaching from plastics in his talk, Living in the Plastic Age: Chemicals Leaching from Plastic and Possible Health Effects. He cautioned that widespread exposure to plastic-related chemicals poses potential human health hazards, particularly exposure to mixtures of chemical at low doses over time. Dr. Dirven advocated for inclusion of plastic chemical hazards in the upcoming UN Global Plastic Treaty and introduced a proposed initiative under the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) to further investigate these risks.
Following each presentation, the speakers engaged in a live Q&A, responding to questions from the audience. The final EXIMIOUS symposium successfully wrapped up the series, leaving participants with a clear understanding of the need for ongoing research and regulatory action on emerging contaminants affecting human health. For those who missed the live event, a recording of the symposium is available online.
The final EXIMIOUS Symposium, titled “Emerging contaminants: health risks associated with microplastics and indoor air quality” will take place on 31st October 2024. Register now and join us online at 15:00 – 17:00 (CET) to learn more.
Emerging contaminants (ECs) constitute a wide range of chemicals, including flame retardants, perfluorochemicals, pharmaceuticals, microplastics and a wide range of personal care products. Many of these ECs may undergo various degrees of transformation in the environment and can often be more persistent and exhibit greater toxicity than the parent compound. In this symposium we ask ourselves what are the impact of air quality and EC exposure on human health? How do we assess the risks? And in doing so we hope to talk to the policy needs to tackle the challenges.
Our three invited experts will present their latest research on the topic, each highlighting a different aspect as shown in the programme below. A dedicated time for Q&A will follow each of the presentations. Like our previous symposia, this sixth EXIMIOUS Symposium is open to all audiences.
Programme EXIMIOUS Symposium “Emerging contaminants: health risks associated with microplastics and indoor air quality”
Time
Title
Speaker
15:00 - 15:15
Welcome and introduction from the EXIMIOUS coordinator
Prof. Peter Hoet Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
15:15 - 15:50
Human risk assessment of microplastics
Dr. Raymond Pieters Utrecht University, the Netherlands
15:50 - 16:25
Air quality and children's cognition, with a focus on school air quality
Prof. Xavier Basagaña Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
16:25 - 17:00
Living in the plastic age: chemicals leaching from plastic and possible health effects
Dr. Hubert Dirven The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
Speakers
Raymond Pieters is Associate Professor in Immunotoxicology at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) of UU (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine), and Professor in Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. His research focuses on assessment of effects of substances (e.g. drugs, pollutants, microplastics) on inflammatory processes and immune responses. He has been involved in several projects focusing on immune effects of airborne pollutants and recently started working on the effects of micro- and nanoplastics on the immune system. He leads the EC-HORIZON project POLYRISK, aiming at understanding human exposure and health hazards of micro- and nanoplastic contaminants in our environment.
Xavier Basagaña has a PhD in Biostatistics from Harvard University and is Research Professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). His research lines include the effects of air pollution and temperatures on health, and the development of statistical models for epidemiology, having co-authored 270 scientific papers. He was the coordinator of the H2020 project CitieS-Health, which applied a Citizen Science approach to the study of the links between the environment and health. Currently, he is leading work packages and task in the European projects ATHLETE, on exposome research; INTERCAMBIO, on heat exposure and health in outdoor workers; InChildHealth, on indoor air pollution and children’s health; and RI-URBANS, on novel air quality metrics and health.
Hubert Dirven has been serving as the Department Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health since 2013. Currently, the Department of Chemical Toxicology, under his leadership, is responsible for providing evaluations on REACH chemicals to both the Norwegian Environment Agency and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The research that is conducted in the department focusses on finding causal relationship (AOPs) for the effects of chemicals on the human body. Advanced in vitro models to study the effects of chemicals on the developmental nervous system and the immune system are established in the department.
EXIMIOUS Project Meeting in Oslo, Norway (05-06 September 2024)
The EXIMIOUS consortium gathered for a their internal General Assembly meeting from 5-6 September 2024 in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). The event provided a platform for key project updates, in-depth scientific discussions, and preparations for the upcoming review.
The meeting agenda was designed to facilitate collaborative progress, with a focus on data management, analysis, and integration across various work packages (WPs). The key sessions were structured as follows:
Session 1: EXIMIOUS Data Flow This session outlined the project’s data handling processes, detailing what data is being collected, analysed, and made available.
Session 1a: Data Collection and Analysis (WP2 – WP3) Focused on the collection and initial analysis of data across different work streams.
Session 1b: In-depth Data Analysis (WP4 – WP5) Explored advanced techniques used in data analysis to generate actionable insights.
Session 2: Data Integration (WP6) This session addressed the integration of data from various sources, ensuring seamless cross-WP collaboration and enhancing the overall project impact.
Session 3: Scientific Presentations A platform for researchers to present key findings and discuss scientific progress within the EXIMIOUS project.
Session 4: Tools and Publications (Part 1, Group Discussion) Participants engaged in discussions on the tools and publications emerging from the project, highlighting their relevance to both academic and public stakeholders.
Session 5: Rehearsal for Review Meeting In preparation for the upcoming project review, this session focused on aligning the consortium’s presentation strategy and key deliverables.
Session 6: Tools and Publications (Part 2, Group Discussion) Continuing the discussions from Session 4, this part further explored the project’s outputs and potential for future publications.
Session 7: Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation, and Management The final session was dedicated to strategies for effectively communicating and disseminating project results, as well as ensuring the sustainable exploitation of EXIMIOUS outcomes.
The meeting was a significant step in the project’s timeline, strengthening collaboration among consortium partners and setting the stage for future milestones.
The EXIMIOUS project has released a new Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) tool as part of their toolbox to standardise the collection, storage, and shipment of biological samples for analysing internal exposome markers.
The EXIMIOUS project, which gathers extensive data to study exposome markers, operates across diverse sites such as mines, factories, and hospitals. This complexity necessitates a unified protocol to ensure sample consistency and quality across various centers and partner organisations.
The new SOP tool outlines detailed procedures for sample collection, processing, storage, and shipment, with a strong focus on maintaining sample integrity. Quality assurance was a key focus, with pilot samples being collected and assessed before finalising the protocols.
For more information and to access the SOP tool, visit the EXIMIOUS project website.
The European Human Exposome Network (EHEN) has recently published the sixth issue of its newsletter, packed with updates and insights from all projects. This edition features a preview of the HEAP Symposium, which will present the latest results from the EHEN Working Group on Ethics and Law.
Beyond the symposium preview, the newsletter will provide comprehensive progress updates from all EHEN projects, including EXPANSE, ATHLETE, EQUAL-LIFE, LONGITOOLS, EPHOR, REMEDIA, and HEDIMED. Readers can expect the latest biographies of key researchers, news highlights, upcoming events, and recent publications across the network.
The May 2024 newsletter is available online. Stay informed for an in-depth look at how these collaborative efforts are advancing our understanding of the environmental impacts on health and driving innovative solutions.
The sixth EXIMIOUS Symposium was held online Thursday, 7 March 2024, attracting around 40 participants. This edition, titled “Internal effect markers: immune, genetics and epigenetics”, zoomed in on the topic of the impacts environmental and occupational exposures have on our health through three talks by the invited experts Dr. Unni Cecilie Nygaard (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Dr. Mariona Bustamante (Barcelona Institute for Global Health), and Dr. Rossella Alfano (Hasselt University, Centre for Environmental Sciences). Did you miss the event? Read on as we share our key takeaways from the symposium with you. You can also watch the full video recording on the EXIMIOUS YouTube channel.
After a brief introduction to the EXIMIOUS project and the symposium by EXIMIOUS coordinator Prof. Peter Hoet (KU Leuven), the presentations kicked off with a talk from an EXIMIOUS researcher Dr. Unni Cecilie Nygaard from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). She was the first to present her work on single cell profiling by mass cytometry as a promising tool for advancing environmental health and toxicology. As Dr. Nygaard explains, various environmental factors (e.g. air pollution, chemicals, etc.) have increased the incidence rate of immune diseases, which result in adverse health effects such as auto-immunity, increased hyper-sensitivity or immuno-suppression. With a lack of guideline tests to identify sensitive and relative endpoints, there is a need for new methods to identify diseases associated with immunotoxicity. Dr. Nygaard explained that the new methods should consider two important concepts: to capture the complexity of the immune system and the depth of the immune response. To achieve this, her research has focused on the use of single cell profiling by mass cytometry (CyTOF) to capture the two concepts. The advantage of using this method is that you get high-dimensional information about the phenotype and functions of a cell from a single sample. In one of Dr. Nygaard’s ongoing studies in the EXIMIUOS project, demonstrated that the method of single cell analysis is a sensitive tool to reveal immune cell profiles associated with diseases. Future research will enhance these insights and exploit other sensitive endpoints such as metabolism and epigenetic markers.
The second speaker, Dr. Mariona Bustamante from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGGlobal) in Spain, presented a perspective on the topic of epigenetic marks of the exposome. More specifically, how the internal exposome is measured using candidate biomarkers or omics technologies, which is a way to quantify various biological molecules in a cell. Dr. Bustamante explains how DNA methylation, a type of epigenetic modification that regulates gene expression, can be used to study biological mechanisms connected to the exposome and predict exposures that lead to various diseases. In one of Dr. Bustamante’s ongoing studies, epigenetic data was used to study the biological mechanism of maternal smoking during pregnancy and the placental genome. The study revealed an increased number of DNA methylation sites in the placenta of smoking mothers which is directly associated with the quantity of smoking during the pregnancy. In this context, it means that some factors crucial for fetal development are affected. The take-home message? Epigenetic data can be used not only to study biological mechanisms but also to predict exposures and associated diseases.
The final talk from Dr. Rossella Alfano from the Hasselt University, Centre for Environmental Sciences (CMK) in Belgium, presented her research and insights from multi-omics analysis, specifically to unlock the role of cholesterol in birthweight. As Dr. Alfano explains, there have been many studies that directly relate smoking during pregnancy to a variation of birthweight and the occurrence of diseases in later life. In one of Dr. Alfano’s studies, the exposome-wide study with the use of multi-omics was able to detect exposures directly related to cholesterol in mothers and birthweight of children. Future research will enhance these insights by looking at the potential association of cholesterol in birthweight with childhood traits and disease correlation.
The EXIMIOUS consortium would like to thank the speakers for sharing their latest work and valuable insights with the audience. It is evident that their research will a great impact on society.
We are looking forward to bringing you more exposome research highlights at the next EXIMIOUS Symposium in Autumn 2024, so stay tuned! If you’d like to be notified about the next symposia you can also subscribe here and we’ll send you an invitation in due time.
One of EXIMIOUS’s main objectives is to develop a toolbox catering to diverse stakeholders, facilitating their understanding and use of the project’s findings, outcomes and results. This toolbox will provide resources tailored for patients, researchers, policymakers, and decision-makers, empowering them to generate data and insights, even beyond the end of the EXIMIOUS project.
EXIMIOUS has published its first online tool. Named DMP-CHECK, it focuses on Data Management Planning (DMP), essential for occupational and environmental exposome research.
Drawing from insights gained in the EU-funded Horizon 2020 EXIMIOUS project, the DMP-CHECK addresses challenges in data collection and analysis. It ensures compliance with ethical and legal standards while making research data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and GDPR compliant.
The tool, accompanied by an explanatory video can be found online.
In a collaborative effort to propel advancements in understanding exposure-induced immune effects, the EXIMIOUS scientific meeting took place at the esteemed Vall d’Hebron Research Institute in Barcelona from 22-23 February 2024. The event, organised and hosted by the Institute, saw participation of 40 people representing the 16 partners involved in the EXIMIOUS project.
The EXIMIOUS project, funded by the European Union, is dedicated to Mapping Exposure-Induced Immune Effects: Connecting the Exposome and the Immunome. With the ultimate goal of shedding light on the intricate interplay between environmental exposures and immune responses, the project aims to pave the way for more targeted interventions and treatments.
The two-day event was structured into seven sessions, each delving into different aspects crucial to the project’s overarching objectives covering Biological Sample Collection and Analysis, Exposure Assessment, Scientific Presentations and Discussions, Publications and Research Focus, Data Integration, Management and Coordination and Communication, Dissemination, and Exploitation
The EXIMIOUS scientific meeting highlights the collaborative efforts aimed at unraveling the complexities of exposure-induced immune effects. By bringing together the EXIMIOUS partners’ expertise from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, the event not only facilitated knowledge exchange but also laid the groundwork for future innovations in the field.
