this project studies effects of low air pollution levels on mortality and morbidity, using data from European cohort studies and administrative databases.

• J. (Jie) Chen
• prof. dr. ir. B. (Bert) Brunekreef

This project aims to develop a novel approach to the assessment of exposure to high priority environmental pollutants by characterizing the external and the internal components of the exposome, focusing on air and water contaminants during critical periods of life. To this end, the project will centre on 1) exposure assessment at the personal and population levels within existing European short- and long-term population studies, exploiting available tools and methods which we will develop for personal exposure monitoring (PEM)(e.g. portable sensors, smartphone-based technologies, high-resolution chemical analysis); and 2) multiple “omic” technologies for the analysis of biological samples (internal markers of external exposures). The search for the relationships between external exposures (as measured by PEM, which has not previously been used in large scale studies) and global profiles of molecular features (as measured by omics) in the same individuals constitutes a novel advance towards the development of "next generation exposure assessment" for environmental chemicals and their mixtures. The linkage with disease risks opens the way to what are defined here as ‘exposome-wide association studies’ (EWAS).

• prof. dr. ir. R.C.H. (Roel) Vermeulen
• E.J.H.M. (Erik) van Nunen MSc
• dr. J.J. (Jelle) Vlaanderen