Newsletters

The HBM4EU (Human Biomonitoring for Europe) project focuses on PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalky substances) exposure levels among European teenagers and investigates the factors influencing these levels. PFAS are synthetic chemicals found in consumer products, and their persistence in the environment makes them bioaccumulate in humans and wildlife.

The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential and current advancements in mycoremediation, the bioremediation technology using fungi to degrade environmental pollutants.

Microplastics and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in agricultural systems are subject to a growing concern with regards to food safety. Microplastics, which have more and more become recognized as soil pollutants, can adsorb PTEs, such as heavy metals, increasing their mobility and potential absorption by plants.

There is concern of the growing presence of unregulated anthropogenic substances, such as pharmaceuticals and PFAS, in European groundwater. The EU Groundwater Watch List (GWWL) was established, a voluntary initiative designed to identify and monitor substances that pose risks to groundwater quality.

In this study the aim was to establish anthropogenic background values of PFAS in soil and groundwater in Flanders, focusing on areas free from known PFAS sources. Spatial data on known or potential PFAS sources like no-regret zones (i.e. areas with known PFAS impacts), firefighting training grounds, landfills,…  was collected and merged into 1 map to select unsuspected areas.

From April to June 2023, a knowledge integration study was conducted by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), in collaboration with the Agency for Nature and Forest (ANB), the Department of Environment, and the Flemish Environment Agency (VLM), examining the impact of pesticides on Flemish nature and the nature objectives, as well as their effect on humans.

Recent research sheds light on plastic microparticles originating from vehicle tyres as a significant environmental pollutant, potentially surpassing chronic safety limits in contaminated areas.

Proportionally high levels of pesticides are found in the blood of Dutch farmers, and house dust on farms contains a large amount of agricultural toxins. As European standards do not take into account overall health effects of simultaneous exposure to multiple agents, researchers fear numerous diseases.

Issue 596 from the News Alert Service of the European Commission draws the attention to research showing that commonly used chemicals all enter the environment. Levels in groundwater across the world highlight the need to assess the risk posed by these substances.

After the successful first edition (which focused on addressing the Flemish PFAS crisis), the 2^nd series of EmConSoil webinars addressed more general aspects of dealing with emerging soil contaminants.