Giulia Poma research manager

Research Giulia Poma

Research team

Expertise

Dr. Giulia Poma completed her PhD in Environmental Sciences at the Water Research Institute of the Italian National Research Council (IRSA-CNR) and the University of Milano-Bicocca in March 2014. Her research focused on the evaluation of bioaccumulation processes of brominated flame retardants in biotic matrices. Since 2015, she is a post-doctoral researcher specialized in the assessment of human exposure (dietary intake and dust ingestion/dermal absorption) to legacy chemicals and contaminants of emerging concern. Since 2020, she is also the Research Manager of the Exposome Centre of Excellence.

Strengthening insect-based agriculture: resolving key knowledge gaps on insect welfare, safety and gut health benefits of insect products. 01/10/2024 - 30/09/2028

Abstract

In the past ten years, the production of insects up-cycling organic wastes into high-quality biomass has gone from fiction to reality in Europe. Several of the main players leading this industrial revolution and exporting their know-how to other parts of the world are headquartered close to Flanders: Innovafeed (Nesle, France), Agronutris (Rethel, France), Ynsect (Amiens, France), Protix (Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands). To date, these four companies have attracted an estimated €1.1 billion of investment capital, and their production capacity is growing rapidly. Flanders is strategically positioned to harness this emerging source of regionally produced biomass, aligning with the objectives outlined in its "Protein Strategy 2030" aimed at enhancing the sustainability of its protein production system. To do this responsibly, a number of key societal concerns on insect well-being during industrial production and the safety and added value of the end-products have to be addressed. This research initiative has three primary objectives: i) Explore if and how stress in insects can be measured by monitoring insect metabolome and behavior to contribute to the development of science-based guidelines to score insect welfare, ii) Fill research gaps on safety of pre-consumer organic waste streams containing microplastics and/or spore-forming food pathogens to enable safe use of insect feed substrates that do not compete with food or feed production, and iii) Identify which bio-active insect fractions drive observed beneficial effects on gut health in farm animals and define how these effects can be better conserved during processing. This proposal will be carried out by a consortium of the leading Flemish research groups in the field of edible insects working together to resolve several urgent challenges for insect production and usage with direct relevance for multiple potential users.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Monitoring recreational use of emerging (il)licit drugs in communities through the analysis of urban wastewater with a focus on new trends and substances. 01/12/2023 - 30/11/2025

Abstract

This project will extract information from urban wastewater regarding (il)licit drug use in communities, with a focus on new and emerging trends. The 2021 European Drug Report from the EMCDDA acknowledges that new and alternative monitoring tools are needed to increase the knowledge on the use of emerging substances such as ketamine, (non-pharmaceutical) benzodiazepines and opioids. This project will help to implement the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach to fill this knowledge gap. In first instance, a list of relevant substances and their biomarkers (parent compounds and/or metabolites) will be selected based on literature search and contacts with relevant partners (e.g. EMCDDA, Sciensano). Based on this list, multi-residue robust analytical procedures based on sample preparation (micro-solid-phase extraction) and liquid chromatography coupled to (high-resolution) mass spectrometry (LC-(HR)MS) will be developed and validated according to the EMA guidelines for the analysis of these biomarkers in urban wastewater. Long-term daily influent wastewater sampling and analysis in selected communities in Belgium will result in information on the spatial and temporal variations in the consumption of the selected substances and in the set-up of the most optimal sample strategies for large-scale WBE applications.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Identification of chemical and biological determinants, their sources, and strategies to promote healthier homes in Europe (INQUIRE). 01/09/2022 - 31/08/2027

Abstract

INQUIRE aims to protect citizen health by providing knowledge, tools, and measures to substantially improve indoor air quality (IAQ). We will conduct research and evaluate innovative actions to reduce hazardous chemical and biological determinants in homes, positively impacting the health of residents. INQUIRE will focus particularly on infants and young children (<5 years old) as highly sensitive groups that spend a substantial time in the home environment. INQUIRE will comprehensively advance our understanding of the determinants of IAQ in homes by implementing innovative, low-cost, non-invasive sampling strategies (sensors, indoor/outdoor passive sampling, urine biomonitoring) to characterize determinants of household IAQ and their importance to human exposure. To capture the breath of IAQ determinants across Europe, the study will monitor for one month over 200 homes distributed across 8 countries, covering a gradient of conditions in each country. Tiered high-resolution chemical and biological screening techniques and wide-scope holistic characterisation of hazards will provide a comprehensive assessment of the determinants of IAQ. Multifaceted data analysis techniques (including machine learning, exposure modelling, geospatial analysis), will link chemical, biological and toxicity profiles with drivers of IAQ to identify sources and prioritize pollutants. Source identification will feed directly into the testing of both novel technologies and readily deployable strategies to improve IAQ, resulting in evidence-based recommendations and a draft of policy strategy for developing IAQ standards. INQUIREs Open Science approach and generated FAIR data on hazardous determinants, their effects, risk factors and sources will endorse continuous exploitation of results. Open dissemination of generated knowledge will raise citizen awareness while exploitation by industry and policy makers will endorse a transition towards homes with zero pollution. The project INQUIRE is part of the European cluster on indoor air quality and health (name and acronym to be decided).

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC). 01/05/2022 - 30/04/2029

Abstract

Chemicals risk assessors and managers are faced with data and knowledge gaps and lack of tools and methods, to speed up and prioritise risk assessments and capture risks from existing and emerging substances across regulatory domains. The lack of available or accessible information increases the risk of 'regrettable' substitutions and slows down the design of safer chemicals. A diverse landscape of regulatory frameworks and actors carrying out risk assessment of chemicals for their specific purpose has resulted in a fragmented approach. Risks to human and environmental health are still in certain cases considered separately, while in most cases they are inherently interrelated. To enable risk assessors and risk managers to respond to current and future challenges, the Partnership should stimulate research and innovation in chemicals risk assessment by developing a collaborative network with public research entities. A common research and innovation programme should be established by national and EU risk assessors and risk managers in consultation with relevant stakeholders (academia, industry, associations and others). Activities of the Partnership should be complementary and subsidiary to obligations under existing regulatory frameworks, and should coordinate with these as relevant. The Partnership should become a reference centre for research questions related to chemicals risk assessment, including those emerging from other Horizon Europe partnerships or missions. The Partnership is expected to establish relevant collaborations with other Horizon Europe partnerships and missions as set out in the working document on 'Coherence and Synergies of candidate European partnerships under Horizon Europe' as well as to explore collaborations with other relevant activities at EU and international level. The Partnership should align with EU-wide initiatives on open access and FAIR data.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Exposure of Pregnant Women to Halogenated Organic Pollutants (HOPs) and Health Implications in Areas Impacted by the Halogenated Chemical Industry (HOPE). 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2024

Abstract

Halogenated organic pollutants (HOPs) released into the environment may cause adverse effects on the human health. To assess the human exposure risk of HOPs, it is thus necessary to investigate their environmental levels and consider the multiple exposure pathways of people in high-risk areas. Non-target screening (NTS) analytical approaches allow the early detection of potentially harmful novel HOPs. In addition, some novel HOPs may cause remarkable changes in cell metabolites, although they do not exhibit significant dose-effect relationships. Metabolomics may detect low, but critical effects that are not observed by conventional toxicological methods. The application of NTS and metabolomics on sensitive populations (e.g. pregnant women) in the vicinity of halogenated chemical industrial parks would thus provide a screening of high-risk HOPs. Through the cooperation of the Belgian and Chinese teams in this project, we aim at 1) identifying novel HOPs in multiple environmental media relevant for human exposure in the vicinity of chemical industry parks, 2) clarifying the dominant exposure pathways of novel HOPs through the comparison of exposure levels and characteristics of human internal and external exposure, 3) investigating the effects of combined exposure to HOPs on the metabolome of pregnant women, and 4) identifying biomarkers for high-risk HOPs. Altogether, our results will provide the basis for environmental and chemical management of novel HOPs.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Silicone Wristbands as personal ExposurE monitor to Predict the internal exposure to emerging contaminants (SWEEP). 01/11/2020 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are a group of anthropogenic chemicals widely distributed in the environment. These chemicals are of growing concern due to their ubiquitous presence in the environment and potential hazardous effect to humans. Thus, it is critical to investigate the levels and patterns of exposure to ECs in the environment/human to provide a better assessment of the health risks. Since people are exposed to a mixture of complex chemicals in the environment, the assessment of personal exposure is the key to link the external and internal exposure and eventually the health effects. Silicone wristband represents the aggregate personal exposure of multiple exposure pathways, which would be ideal to predict the internal exposure. In this study, we will use the silicone wristbands as sampler to monitor the external exposure to ECs on the individual level, quantify the external and internal exposure concentration and then use a refined model to predict the internal exposure concentrations from the silicone wristband exposure data. We will also use suspect screening techniques to explore and identify new ECs using silicone wristbands to aid future exposure studies. This study aims to provide new insights into the exposure levels and patterns, gain better understanding for the correlation between external and internal exposure and refine and develop a method to predict the internal exposure dose thus simplify the exposure assessment in the general population.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Assessing human exposure to chlorinated paraffins in the indoor environment (HECPAR). 01/10/2019 - 30/09/2022

Abstract

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are a complex mixture of thousands of individual compounds which have been used as plasticizers, flame retardants and additives to various lubricants, adhesives and metal working fluids. Certain CPs are recognised as potential carcinogens and have exhibited toxic and bioaccumulative properties, culminating in restriction of their use due to their registration as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention in 2017. As semi-volatile compounds, CPs may be released from consumer products and materials via volatilisation or leaching and tend to bind strongly to particulates, such as indoor dust. Inadvertent ingestion of contaminated dust is considered to be a major pathway of human exposure to CPs. This study aims to a) investigate the current human exposure risks posed by CPs in the indoor environments of Belgium and b) explore the transport and fate of such chemicals. Sensitive, reliable and robust methods for the quantitation of CPs will first be developed and validated using state-of-the-art techniques based on advanced mass spectrometry. The occurrence and distribution of CPs will then be assessed in dust from a range of indoor microenvironments to produce an estimate of human exposure via incidental dust ingestion for the Belgian population. Finally, the distribution of CPs in consumer goods and the migration of CPs to dust will be investigated to aid in mitigating harmful effects to human populations in the future.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Characterization of occurrence, metabolism and contribution to human exposure of new chemicals present in the indoor environment. 01/10/2018 - 30/09/2021

Abstract

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.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project