California recently enacted legislation requiring that microplastic levels are monitored in drinking water. How will the CUSP Cluster of EU-funded projects on microplastics and health advance the science needed to assess the human health risks of micro- and nano-plastics? How will these projects advance the methods used for exposure assessment? What are the critical exposure metrics that could best be used for future human health risk assessments, considering both feasibility (including technological readiness level) and biological relevance?
The CUSP Working Group on Exposure Assessment is hosting a workshop to discuss these questions and more on March 3, 2021 from 15:00-17:00 CET. Registration is open to all EU CUSP Cluster members.
During this workshop, participants will hear from two experts:
- Dr. Araceli Sánchez, Spanish National Institute of Health and Safety: “Exposure metrics for future human health risk assessment of micro/nanoplastics: what can be learned from risk assessment of nanomaterials in occupational settings.”
- Dr. Stephanie Wright, Imperial College London: “Exposure assessment of MNPs, with a focus on approaches for detection in air”
This will be followed by an interactive expert panel discussion during which the CUSP Cluster members will have the opportunity to interact with the panel and each other to identify the critical exposure metrics and research priorities for future risk assessment of micro/nanoplastics.
Registration
All CUSP members are invited to register and participate in the free workshop via this Eventbrite page. A password is required for registration. Please find this password in the invitation email sent to you by your CUSP project coordinator. The meeting will take place virtually via Zoom, and a meeting link will be sent to you automatically after you register.
Speakers
Dr. Araceli Sánchez is a senior consultant on Health and Safety at the Spanish National Institute of Health and Safety, where she moved a year and a half ago. Previously she worked 12 years at the Institute of Occupational Medicine where she acquired a wide experience on the risk assessment of nanomaterials, specifically on the development of exposure methodologies and models.
Dr. Stephanie Wright is a Lecturer at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health at Imperial College London. She has over 9 years’ research experience in the field of microplastics, specifically in exposure and biological impacts, which began with a PhD at the University of Exeter. She then joined King’s College London, on an early career research fellowship in microplastics and human health, with an emphasis on airborne plastic pollution. She now leads the Microplastics team, whose interdisciplinary research addresses microplastic detection, characterisation and quantification in the atmospheric environment; optimisation of techniques for the detection of microplastics in biological matrices; and toxicological assessment of microplastics using in vitro models of the human airway. She has participated in a European Commission microplastics working group and contributed towards policy change.
Workshop Program
15:00 – Opening
15:10 – Keynote presentations (Araceli Sánchez & Stephanie Wright)
16:00 – Summary of pre-workshop webinars: exposure assessment within each of the five CUSP projects
16:15 – Panel discussion (moderated by Jane Muncke)
16:45 – Concluding remarks
17:00 – Closing
