Agriculture Biomass: its potential in Slovakia and Serbia

The natural resources (oil, coal, natural gas) are insufficient to satisfy the needs of the people for electric and heating energy because sources of fossil fuels are limited. Emission of large quantities of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere, in the course of combustion processes of solid and liquid fuels have been disrupting the environment. The future lies in the renewable energy sources (RES) surrounding us. The rapid rise of crude oil prices in the early 70-ies of 20th Century focused global attention to the need for efficient use and finding new sources of energy. In addition, energy consumption is growing dramatically in developed countries. EIA expects that demand for energy will grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2016). In order to overcome the problems caused by the constant rise in the global population, rapid exploitation of many natural resources, increase of pollution and climate change, the World and Europe must radically change their approach to the production, processing, consumption, storage, recycling and disposal of biological wastes. European 2020 strategy indicates bioeconomy as a key element for sustainable and "green" development in the region (European Commission, 2012). Bioeconomy includes sustainable production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food, biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts (eg. bioplastics, biopesticides, etc.). It includes agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and paper production, as well as part of the chemical, biotechnological and energy industries. Agriculture is a major consumer but also can become energy producer. Bearing in mind the amount of biomass produced, and the possibilities for its utilization, the negligible amount of biomass that is currently used as an energy source. An important feature is that biomass combustion is not an increased content of CO2 in the atmosphere, as the ecological point of view is very important. The necessity of integrated approach to the biomass policy is given special importance. Biomass is preferred to other sources of renewable energy, due to the increase in the alternative sources of income it provides to the farmers, and the development of the regional economic structures. It is expected that throughout Europe a new “energy producing” division of agriculture is about to unfold, which, in close cooperation with the energy producing and service providing sections of the national economy, may greatly contribute to the reduction of the energy shortage, while finding new sources of income. Usage of biomass, which is mostly the agricultural waste, would reduce demand of the country for import of fuels, would promote environment protection, and the economy would prosper, which would contribute to the sustainable development of society. At this study the sources of biomass and its potential will be described, as well as energy from agricultural biomass, with special emphasis on the situation and potential of Slovakia and Serbia in biomass. The possibilities of the use of alternative renewable energy sources were considered, such as biodiesel, biogas and bioethanol. Also the opportunities for development and implementation of the second, third and fourth generation biofuels are listed. The study included both positive and negative impacts of the production and use of renewable energy from agricultural biomass (biofuels) compared to the fossil fuels

Application of AOPs to assist regulatory assessment of chemical risks - Case studies, needs and recommendations

While human regulatory risk assessment (RA) still largely relies on animal studies, new approach methodologies (NAMs) based on in vitro, in silico or non-mammalian alternative models are increasingly used to evaluate chemical hazards. Moreover, human epidemiological studies with biomarkers of effect (BoE) also play an invaluable role in identifying health effects associated with chemical exposures. To move towards the next generation risk assessment (NGRA), it is therefore crucial to establish bridges between NAMs and standard approaches, and to establish processes for increasing mechanistically-based biological plausibility in human studies. The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework constitutes an important tool to address these needs but, despite a significant increase in knowledge and awareness, the use of AOPs in chemical RA remains limited. The objective of this paper is to address issues related to using AOPs in a regulatory context from various perspectives as it was discussed in a workshop organized within the European Union partnerships HBM4EU and PARC in spring 2022. The paper presents examples where the AOP framework has been proven useful for the human RA process, particularly in hazard prioritization and characterization, in integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA), and in the identification and validation of BoE in epidemiological studies. Nevertheless, several limitations were identified that hinder the optimal usability and acceptance of AOPs by the regulatory community including the lack of quantitative information on response-response relationships and of efficient ways to map chemical data (exposure and toxicity) onto AOPs. The paper summarizes suggestions, ongoing initiatives and third-party tools that may help to overcome these obstacles and thus assure better implementation of AOPs in the NGRA

Impact of PFAS exposure on prevalence of immune-mediated diseases in adults in the Czech Republic

BACKGROUND: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging environmental contaminants with multiple hazardous properties including immunomodulation potency. Human exposure to PFASs has been associated with various immune-mediated diseases and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association between PFAS exposure and immune-mediated diseases such as allergies, eczemas, and autoimmune diseases in a population of adults in the Czech Republic. METHODS: This study included 309 adults from the Central European Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: Young Adults (CELSPAC: YA). 12 PFASs were measured in participants' serum by HPLC-MS/MS, 3 PFASs were removed from the subsequent analyses due to low detection frequency. The associations of 9 PFASs with 9 immune-mediated diseases were assessed by logistic regression. Furthermore, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) was used to estimate the effect of the PFAS mixture on immune-mediated diseases. All analyses were adjusted for sex, age, BMI, smoking, education, and family history of immune-mediated diseases. In cases of a statistically significant interaction of PFASs and sex, stratified analyses were performed for men and women. RESULTS: Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were negatively associated with both atopic eczema (OR per IQR increase 0.58 (95% CI 0.37-0.90) for PFOA and 0.56 (0.32-0.95) for PFOS) and contact dermatitis (0.37 (0.16-0.85) for PFOA and 0.33 (0.11-0.94) for PFOS). Perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA) was negatively associated with pollen, dust, and mite allergy (0.62 (0.43-0.89)). BKMR modelling showed a negative tendency in the overall effect of PFAS mixture on immune-health outcomes. Based on the stratified analysis, sex was suggested to be an effect modifier in the association of PFOS and atopic eczema. CONCLUSION: Our results contribute to the body of literature that observes the immunosuppressive effect of PFAS exposure during eczemas and allergies, both for PFASs individually and as a mixture

Application of AOPs to assist regulatory assessment of chemical risks - Case studies, needs and recommendations

While human regulatory risk assessment (RA) still largely relies on animal studies, new approach methodologies (NAMs) based on in vitro, in silico or non-mammalian alternative models are increasingly used to evaluate chemical hazards. Moreover, human epidemiological studies with biomarkers of effect (BoE) also play an invaluable role in identifying health effects associated with chemical exposures. To move towards the next generation risk assessment (NGRA), it is therefore crucial to establish bridges between NAMs and standard approaches, and to establish processes for increasing mechanistically-based biological plausibility in human studies. The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework constitutes an important tool to address these needs but, despite a significant increase in knowledge and awareness, the use of AOPs in chemical RA remains limited. The objective of this paper is to address issues related to using AOPs in a regulatory context from various perspectives as it was discussed in a workshop organized within the European Union partnerships HBM4EU and PARC in spring 2022. The paper presents examples where the AOP framework has been proven useful for the human RA process, particularly in hazard prioritization and characterization, in integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA), and in the identification and validation of BoE in epidemiological studies. Nevertheless, several limitations were identified that hinder the optimal usability and acceptance of AOPs by the regulatory community including the lack of quantitative information on response-response relationships and of efficient ways to map chemical data (exposure and toxicity) onto AOPs. The paper summarizes suggestions, ongoing initiatives and third-party tools that may help to overcome these obstacles and thus assure better implementation of AOPs in the NGRA