On March 12 and 13, 2024, the AURORA project partners met for the third in-person consortium meeting in Prague, Czechia. Having passed the halfway mark of the project, more and more of the collaborative efforts are coming together into visible outputs and preliminary results.
Each working group shared updates on their progress over the last year and had the opportunity to harvest the cumulative expertise of all partners to brainstorm approaches for current scientific challenges. Scientists involved in the work package on characterization methods for micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and setting up analytical workflows presented their progress in creating MNP particles needed by other work packages for hazard assessments. Others shared their progress in building a spectroscopy library of particles and scaling measurement techniques to look for a multitude of particles in a biological sample at once. On the toxicology front, involved researchers have tested a wide range of MNP polymer types and concentrations in bioassays for their potential impacts on various endpoints. The responsible labs have also started the first experiments measuring MNPs in placentas.
One notable milestone of the year includes the launch of an exploratory observational study, assessing factors that lead to exposure of reproductive-aged women in their households. Another is the development of a roadmap for early-life MNP risk assessment. Results, summaries, and further updates on these and other planned publications will be made available on the AURORA website.
Starting later this Spring, the AURORA project will take over as the lead of the CUSP consortium. As part of this, AURORA and the other CUSP projects will jointly organize events bringing together research from all projects and making them accessible to policymakers and other stakeholders. More details will be announced in the coming months.
You can learn more about all the people involved in AURORA on the team page as well as follow the latest updates on the project’s research via the news page and through the project’s LinkedIn and X accounts.
