Investigating exposure and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics during pregnancy and early life (AURORA Project): Protocol for an interdisciplinary study

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• dc.contributor.author Durkin, Amanda M.
• dc.contributor.author Bustamante Pineda, Mariona
• dc.contributor.author Dadvand, Payam
• dc.contributor.author Vrijheid, Martine
• dc.contributor.author Vermeulen, Roel
• dc.date.accessioned 2024-11-27T07:02:39Z
• dc.date.available 2024-11-27T07:02:39Z
• dc.date.issued 2024
• dc.description.abstract Background: Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging pollutants of concern with ubiquitous presence in global ecosystems. MNPs pose potential implications for human health; however, the health impacts of MNP exposures are not yet understood. Recent evidence suggests that MNPs can cross the placental barrier, underlying the urgent need to understand their impact on reproductive health and development. Objective: The Actionable eUropean ROadmap for early-life health Risk Assessment of micro- and nanoplastics (AURORA) project will investigate MNP exposures and their biological and health effects during pregnancy and early life, which are critical periods due to heightened vulnerability to environmental stressors. The AURORA project will enhance exposure assessment capabilities for measuring MNPs, MNP-associated chemicals, and plastic additives in human tissues, including placenta and blood. Methods: In this interdisciplinary project, we will advance methods for in-depth characterization and scalable chemical analytical strategies, enabling high-resolution and large-scale toxicological, exposure assessment, and epidemiological studies. The AURORA project performs observational studies to investigate determinants and health impacts of MNPs by including 800 mother-child pairs from 2 existing birth cohorts and 110 women of reproductive age from a newly established cohort. This will be complemented by toxicological studies using a tiered-testing approach and epidemiological investigations to evaluate associations between maternal and prenatal MNP exposures and health perturbations, such as placental function, immune-inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, accelerated aging, endocrine disruption, and child growth and development. The ultimate goal of the AURORA project is to create an MNP risk assessment framework and identify the remaining knowledge gaps and priorities needed to comprehensively assess the impact of MNPs on early-life health. Results: In the first 3 years of this 5-year project (2021-2026), progress was made toward all objectives. This includes completion of recruitment and data collection for new and existing cohorts, development of analytical methodological protocols, and initiation of the toxicological tiered assessments. As of September 2024, data analysis is ongoing and results are expected to be published starting in 2025. Conclusions: As plastic pollution increases globally, it is imperative to understand the impact of MNPs on human health, particularly during vulnerable developmental stages such as early life. The contributions of the AURORA project will inform future risk assessment. International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/63176.
• dc.description.sponsorship The authors attest that there was no use of generative artificial intelligence technology in the generation of text, figures, or other informational content of this manuscript. This research was supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant 964827; AURORA project, coordinated by University Medical Center Utrecht). RECETOX was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant 857560; CETOCOEN Excellence).
• dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
• dc.identifier.citation Durkin AM, Zou R, Boucher JM, Boyles MS, van Boxel J, Bustamante M, et al. Investigating exposure and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics during pregnancy and early life (AURORA Project): Protocol for an interdisciplinary study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 Oct 8;13:e63176. DOI: 10.2196/63176
• dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/63176
• dc.identifier.issn 1929-0748
• dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/68836
• dc.language.iso eng
• dc.publisher JMIR Publications
• dc.relation.ispartof JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 Oct 8;13:e63176
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/964827
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/857560
• dc.rights © Amanda M Durkin, Runyu Zou, Justin M Boucher, Matthew SP Boyles, Jeske van Boxel, Mariona Bustamante, Emily A Christopher, Payam Dadvand, Hanna M Dusza, Majorie van Duursen, Markus M Forsberg, Karen S Galea, Juliette Legler, Laurens DB Mandemaker, Florian Meirer, Jane Muncke, Tim S Nawrot, Petra Přibylová, Anna R Robuck, Nelly D Saenen, Barbara M Scholz-Böttcher, Kuanliang Shao, Martine Vrijheid, Douglas I Walker, Lisa Zimmermann, Laura M Zoutendijk, Virissa Lenters, Roel Vermeulen. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 08.10.2024. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
• dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
• dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• dc.subject.keyword Epidemiology
• dc.subject.keyword Microplastics
• dc.subject.keyword Placenta
• dc.subject.keyword Pregnancy
• dc.subject.keyword Risk assessment
• dc.subject.keyword Toxicology
• dc.title Investigating exposure and hazards of micro- and nanoplastics during pregnancy and early life (AURORA Project): Protocol for an interdisciplinary study
• dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
• dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion