Precision Environmental Health

精准环保健康

• 批准号: NE/Y005120/1
• 负责人: Xiaojing Li
• 金额: $ 29.71万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FY005120%2F1
• 关键词: Precision; Environmental; Health

A significant quantity of chemicals originates from industrial processes, agricultural runoff, and domestic waste. These chemicals, via various routes, accumulate in the environment as complex mixtures. Current regulatory frameworks primarily target individual chemicals, often overlooking the potential effects of these mixtures. Yet, evidence has shown that such mixtures can induce severe adverse effects on humans and wildlife, even when present at levels below regulatory thresholds. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to assessing the health hazards posed by these environmental chemical mixtures (ECMs) to effectively address this challenge.I propose a framework, called Precision Environmental Health (PEH), as a solution to the challenge of hazard assessment of ECMs. The PEH approach is a three-tiered approach that uses a group of chemical-sensitive invertebrates (Daphnia) to test the effects of ECM. The first tier involves biomolecular profiling and chemical fingerprinting to offer an overview of environmental ECM exposure. Secondly, ECM of higher health hazards will be identified with the comparative analysis of biomolecular profiles of daphnids. In the third tier, artificial intelligence algorithms can pinpoint the chemical components contributing to adverse health effects, suggesting prioritising hazardous chemicals for regulation and mitigation. As the metabolic mechanism responding to ECMs may be shared by wildlife and human regarding evolutionary and functional conservation, biomolecular signals of Daphnia can suggest health hazards, even shared by humans. Hence PEH is promising in addressing the challenges of protecting humans and wildlife from the impact of ECMs.Being a conceptual framework, PEH must be tested in real-world scenarios to demonstrate its practicality and reliability. However, meeting regulatory requirements and obtaining stakeholder input and feedback is crucial. Being a research fellow based at the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ) of the University of Birmingham (UoB) will offer me a unique opportunity - working with multi-disciplinary researchers from biosciences and law school, meeting and receiving valuable expert advice from Stakeholder Advisory Group through Precision Toxicology (PT) project, and engaging in the UoB-based Environment Care Consortium of 50 organizations across 13 countries, including China. The stage is set for me to improve and promote the PEH through knowledge exchange with stakeholders!Thus, I am applying for this fellowship for establishing, validating, and promoting PEH - a framework for next-generation chemical hazard assessment. I will establish the framework by applying PEH to three case studies, to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of this framework. Then, I will improve the framework with expert input from a network of diverse backgrounds, including academia and regulators, to verify and substantiate its role in regulating ECM problems. Lastly, I will work with experts in environmental law to identify opportunities for reforming the regulatory practices of environmental chemical pollution in the UK, allowing initiating science-to-policy advocacy. By achieving these objectives, I will be one step closer to my ultimate goal of enhancing chemical hazard assessment and safeguarding human and environmental health.

大量化学物质源自工业过程，农业径流和家庭废物。这些化学物质通过各种途径在环境中积聚为复杂的混合物。当前的监管框架主要针对各个化学物质，通常忽略这些混合物的潜在影响。然而，有证据表明，即使存在低于调节阈值的水平，这种混合物也会对人类和野生动植物产生严重的不利影响。迫切需要采取一种全面的方法来评估这些环境化学混合物（ECMS）造成的健康危害，以有效应对这一挑战。我提出了一个称为Precision Envorytical Health（PEH）的框架，以解决危害评估ECM的挑战。 PEH方法是一种三层方法，它使用一组化学敏感的无脊椎动物（水豆）来测试ECM的作用。第一个层涉及生物分子分析和化学指纹识别，以提供环境ECM暴露的概述。其次，将通过对水菌的生物分子特征进行比较分析来确定更高的健康危害的ECM。在第三层中，人工智能算法可以查明导致不良健康影响的化学成分，这表明优先考虑有害化学品以进行调节和缓解。由于野生动植物和人类在进化和功能保护方面可以共享对ECM的代谢机制，因此，水坝的生物分子信号也可能暗示健康危害，即使是人类也是如此。因此，PEH有望解决保护人类和野生动植物免受ECM的影响的挑战。要在概念框架中，必须在现实世界中测试PEH，以证明其实用性和可靠性。但是，满足监管要求并获得利益相关者的意见和反馈至关重要。成为伯明翰大学环境研究与司法中心（UOB）的研究员，将为我提供一个独特的机会 - 与来自Biosciences and Law School的多学科研究人员合作，通过Precision Teboricologicy（PT）项目（PT）项目与基于UOB环境护理机构的Precision togipology Group与50个国家 /地区互动。阶段为我提供了通过与利益相关者的知识交流来改善和促进PEH的阶段！因此，我正在申请这一奖学金来建立，验证和促进PEH，这是下一代化学危害评估的框架。我将通过将PEH应用于三个案例研究，以评估和证明该框架的有效性和鲁棒性来建立框架。然后，我将通过包括学术界和监管机构在内的不同背景网络的专家投入来改善框架，以验证和证实其在调节ECM问题中的作用。最后，我将与环境法专家合作，以确定改革英国环境化学污染的监管实践的机会，从而启动科学至政策的倡导。通过实现这些目标，我将更接近增加化学危害评估并保护人类和环境健康的最终目标。