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Project

Characterization of occurrence, metabolism and contribution to human exposure of new chemicals present in the indoor environment.

Chemicals are typically used in various products because of their beneficial properties, e.g. flame retardants, plasticizers, etc. However, most of them leach into the indoor environment and may provoke health disorders (e.g. endocrine disruption). With this proposal, we aim to enrich the fundamental knowledge related to new chemicals of concern by studying their occurrence in the indoor environment. Furthermore, we will characterize their biotransformation in humans by in vitro experiments with human liver subcellular fractions. We will then assess for the first time the resulting human exposure to these new chemical entities by investigating human biological samples (urine and handwipes) for the presence of these chemicals and their biotransformation products. Resultingly, we will propose a range of new biomarkers of exposure to be used in future biomonitoring studies. The detection of the newly identified chemicals (and/or their metabolites) in human biological samples will confirm occurred exposure and will assist in the prioritization for further investigation of other aspects, such as toxicity and possible health effects.
Date:1 Oct 2018 →  30 Sep 2021
Keywords:MASS SPECTROMETRY (TANDEM), INDOOR ENVIRONMENT, METABOLISM, CHEMICAL POLLUTION
Disciplines:Analytical chemistry, Sustainable chemistry, Aquatic sciences, challenges and pollution, Environmental science and management, Biomarker discovery and evaluation, Drug discovery and development, Medicinal products, Pharmaceutical analysis and quality assurance, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacotherapy, Toxicology and toxinology, Other pharmaceutical sciences