On 1 April, POLYRISK was launched, a 4 year project with 15 partners in 7 countries that is designed to understand exposure and toxicity of micro- and nanoplastic contaminants in humans.
From childhood to old age, we all come in contact with plastic products on a daily basis. Our plastic products are a source of plastic fragments, tiny particles generally invisible to the naked eye. How many of these plastic particles are actually being absorbed into our bodies? What impact is this plastic exposure having on our health?
The POLYRISK project aims at unravelling the risks of microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNP) that are ubiquitous in our environment and are likely to be entering the human body via inhalation and ingestion. The POLYRISK consortium brings together a team of Europe’s top laboratories and risk assessors to measure plastic particles and their immunotoxicological effects on the human body.
POLYRISK is an EU Horizon 2020 funded research project, and falls under the programme, Understanding health, wellbeing and disease and the topic Micro- and nano-plastics in our environment: Understanding exposures and impacts on human health, which includes four other projects: AURORA, PlasticsFatE, PLASTICHEAL and IMPTOX. These five projects form the European Cluster on Health Impacts of Micro- And NanoPlastic.