The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs

Monitoring Herbicides and Nitrates Leaching in Groundwater

Lo scopo principale di questa ricerca è stato di monitorare la concentrazione di nitrati, dell'erbicida terbutilazina e di un suo metabolita, la desethylterbuthylazina, in acque sotterranee superficiali, secondo le normali pratiche agronomiche in differenti aree italiane rappresentative della coltura maidicola. Il primo passo è stato identificare i siti di monitoraggio, quindi è stata creata una procedura generale al fine di individuare aree rappresentative per il mais in Italia. Dentro tali aree sono stati selezionati dei siti di: 4 in Lombardia, 2 in Emilia Romagna, 2 in Veneto, 2 in Piemonte e uno in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In Aprile 2005 il monitoraggio ha avuto inizio e i campionamenti sono stati eseguiti ogni due mesi. L'indice “IDPR”, strumento per la mappatura della vulnerabilità a livello regionale e nazionale, è stato applicato alle aree oggetto di studio. L'indice riflette l'influenza che le formazioni geologiche del sottosuolo hanno sullo scorrimento superficiale e sull'infiltrazione. L'analisi della probabilità di distribuzione dei risultati ha mostrato che una bassa probabilità di superare i limiti fissati per legge, questa probabilità è risultata più alta per il metabolita. Le concentrazioni dei nitrati nelle acque sotterranee sono risultate molto basse. Inoltre, è stato applicato un modello matematico (MACRO vs 5.1) di previsione che calcola la percolazione dei pesticidi.The main aim of the research was to monitor the concentrations of nitrates, the herbicide terbuthylazine and its products of the environmental degradation, desethyl-terbuthylazine, in shallow groundwater, according to the normal agricultural practices in different Italian areas representative of maize crop. The first step was to identify the monitoring sites, therefore it was necessary to create a general procedure to individuate maize representative areas in Italy. Inside these area 11 monitoring sites were selected: 4 in Lombardy, 2 in Emilia Romagna, 2 in Veneto, 2 in Piedmont and one in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In April 2005 the monitoring started. Groundwater samplings were carried out every two months. The IDPR index, a tool for national and regional vulnerability mapping, was applied. The index reflects the influence of the subsurface geological formations on the surface water runoff or infiltration. The distribution probability analysis of the results showed that there was a very low probability of exceeding the limit fixed by law, this probability was higher for the metabolite. The greater probability of exceed the 0.1 μg/L occurred in two sites, both irrigated with basin irrigation system. Nitrate concentrations resulted to be very low in shallow groundwater. Moreover, it was used a mathematical model which calculate the leaching of pesticides (MACRO 5.1)

Insights from an international stakeholder consultation to identify informational needs related to seafood safety

Food safety assessment and communication have a strong importance in reducing human health risks related to food consumption. The research carried out within the ECsafeSEAFOOD project aims to assess seafood safety issues, mainly related to non-regulated priority environmental contaminants, and to evaluate their impact on public health. In order to make the research results accessible and exploitable, and to respond to actual stakeholders' demands, a consultation with international stakeholders was performed by means of a survey. The focus was on policy and decision makers, food producers and processors, and agencies (i.e. EU and National or Regional agencies related to Food Safety or Public Health) and consumer organisations. The survey considered questions related to: seafood safety assessment and mitigation strategies, availability of data, such as the level of information on different contaminants, and communication among different stakeholder groups. Furthermore, stakeholders were asked to give their opinion on how they believe consumers perceive risks associated with environmental contaminants. The survey was distributed to 531 key stakeholders and 91 responses were received from stakeholders from 30 EU and non-EU countries. The main results show that communication between different groups of stakeholders needs to be improved and that there is a deficit of information and data in the field of seafood safety. This pertains mainly to the transfer of contaminants between the environment and seafood, and to the diversity of environmental contaminants such as plastic additives, algal toxins and hormones. On-line tools were perceived to be the most useful communication channel

Potential for MERLIN-Expo, an advanced tool for higher tier exposure assessment, within the EU chemical legislative frameworks

MERLIN-Expo merges and integrates advanced exposure assessment methodologies, allowing the building of complex scenarios involving several pollution sources and targets. The assessment of exposure and risks to human health from chemicals is of major concern for policy and ultimately benefits all citizens. The development and operational fusion of the advanced exposure assessment methodologies envisaged in the MERLIN-Expo tool will have a significant impact in the long term on several policies dealing with chemical safety management. There are more than 30 agencies in Europe related to exposure and risk evaluation of chemicals, which have an important role in implementing EU policies, having especially tasks of technical, scientific, operational and/or regulatory nature. The main purpose of the present paper is to introduce MERLIN-Expo and to highlight its potential for being effectively integrated within the group of tools available to assess the risk and exposure of chemicals for EU policy. The main results show that the tool is highly suitable for use in site-specific or local impact assessment, with minor modifications it can also be used for Plant Protection Products (PPPs), biocides and REACH, while major additions would be required for a comprehensive application in the field of consumer and worker exposure assessment

MERLIN-Expo: An integrated advanced chemicalsexposure assessment tool for legislation requirements

The assessment of exposure and risks to human health from chemicals is of major concern for policy and ultimately benefits all citizens. The objective of the 4FUN project, funded under the EU 7th Framework Programme, is to merge and integrate advanced exposure assessment methodologies in a common tool (MERLIN-Expo), allowing the building of complex scenarios involving several pollution sources and targets. For example, using the river, soil, plant and animal models, available on the tool, it is possible to estimate concentrations of chemicals in these media in order to evaluate the risk to exceed a given regulatory threshold for environmental risk. Furthermore, coupling these models with a human ingestion model it is possible to evaluate the risk to exceed a given regulatory threshold for human health. The development and operational fusion of the advanced exposure assessment methodologies envisaged in the MERLIN-Expo tool will have a significant impact on several sectorial policies dealing with chemicals' management. There are more than 30 agencies in Europe related to exposure and risk evaluation of chemicals. These agencies have an important role in implementing EU policies, especially tasks of a technical, scientific, operational and/or regulatory nature. Therefore, the scope of MERLIN-Expo Tool is to facilitate policymaker's work for updating and improving the regulations