2024 saw the conclusion of eight research projects involving 21 research institutes and 26 individual researchers. These projects delivered 17 scientific publications, 58 presentations, six tools, and three accessible databases, advancing the science behind chemical safety. Our 2024 Projects overview details key highlights and successes.
A central theme was understanding the behaviour and fate of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in the environment:
- FRAGMENT-MNP (ECO59): An open-source model that predicts how environmental factors impact fragmentation and degradation of different polymer types.
- UTOPIA (ECO56): An open-source, user-friendly model for microplastics risk assessment, designed for researchers, regulators and industry professionals.
- μPLANET (ECO57): A model designed to assess the long-range transport of microplastics, with a particular focus on their transfer from coastal regions to the open ocean and through the atmosphere.
- ECO58: A model to assess additive leachability from microplastics in the environment, helping to address data gaps on release behaviour.
Other significant advances include:
- A tiered testing strategy for assessing microplastic inhalation toxicity (C10): Generated appropriate test materials and conducted in vitro studies to support the development of a tiered testing strategy to evaluate the inhalation toxicity of microplastics.
- Developing a tiered modeling framework to advance the risk assessment of chemical substances associated with persistence and mobility concerns. (ECO54)
- A systematic review of PFAS analytical methods (ANP1)
- A critical analysis of uncertainties in mixture assessment factors (ECO65).
This work continues LRI’s mission—since 1999—to drive transparent, peer-reviewed science addressing societal challenges with science to improve safety and sustainability of chemicals.
The Cefic-LRI 2024 projects overview is available for download here.
