14 maj 2025 - Riksdagsseminarium om hur vi får stopp på evighetskemikalierna PFAS 

Användningen av PFAS-kemikalier är en av de största miljöskandalerna i modern tid. Dessa ämnen bryts mycket långsamt ner i naturen och kommer därför att finnas kvar i både människor och miljö under överskådlig framtid – med allvarliga konsekvenser för kommande generationer.

Mot denna bakgrund arrangerades den 14 maj 2025 ett riksdagsseminarium under ledning av Jytte Guteland (S). Seminariet var ett samarbete mellan politiker från Socialdemokraterna och Moderaterna samt det vetenskapliga nätverket SWACCS (Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety).

Från SWACCS deltog professor Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, som gav en inledande presentation om PFAS-problematikens omfattning, med särskilt fokus på hälsorisker. Därefter presenterade journalisterna Daniel Värjö (Sveriges Radio) och Stéphane Horel (Le Monde) sina slutsatser från The Forever Pollution Project – ett banbrytande gränsöverskridande och tvärvetenskapligt samarbete där journalister och experter tillsammans kartlagt omfattningen av PFAS-föroreningar i Europa.

Projektet hade även som mål att kritiskt granska de argument som kemi- och plastindustrins lobbyorganisationer använder för att förhindra ett EU-förbud mot dessa så kallade "evighetskemikalier".

Seminariet avslutades med en engagerad diskussion mellan deltagarna och föredragshållarna.

SWACCS Junior ACademy workshop (JAWS) 2024

REGISTER NOW for the sixth SWACCS Junior Academy Workshop (JAWS)!

When: 28 - 30 August 2024

Where: SciLifeLab in Solna, Stockholm

Who: PhD students / early-career and senior researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health and the environment

What: JAWS is a workshop organized by the Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety (SWACCS), Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet for PhD students, master students, postdocs and researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health and the environment. We’re offering exciting presentations, great networking opportunities, and a workshop on how to write a press release for your own research.

Also, join one day early (on August 28th) and be part of the SWACCS Concept mapping workshop “Chemicals Safety in the context of Regulatory Toxicology, Research, and Policy visions”, where you can learn more about the various kinds of scientific evidence being used by different organizations in society and how these sectors interact and collaborate with one another to reach the goal of a chemical safe future.  

August 28

·    SWACCS Concept mapping workshop “Chemicals Safety in the context of Regulatory Toxicology, Research, and Policy visions”. For full program read here: concept mapping program.

August 29

·    Presentations and perspectives on the topic “Can you be a scientist and an activist at the same time – how to reach out with your science in a non-academic way?”

·     Dinner (potential charge of 200kr)

August 30

·     Workshop – “Reaching a broader audience with your research and learning how to write a press release.” Present and discuss your research with the other participants!

·    Mingle

Why: Because networking is fun; learning how to announce your scientific achievements to a broader audience is important; meeting other junior researchers within and outside of your own field opens up new opportunities; as a PhD student you can get credits; and much more…

Register here: www.scilifelab.se/event/sixth-swaccs-junior-academy-workshop-jaws/.

Registration deadline: 28th of June 2024

In the meantime, become a member of SWACCS Click here to join SWACCS.

feel free to forward this email to any researchers you think might be
interested!

SWACCS Seminar Series -January

ERC consolidator Grant- principal investigators 2023

Day: Wednesday, 17th January 2024

Time: 14:00- 15:00

Format: Zoom Meeting

https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/69301343492?pwd=YTNxazFvb1VHazRUM1A2RWhOdWtvZz09

Meeting ID: 693 0134 3492

Passcode: 457489

Speaker: Pauliina Damdimopoulou, Assoc. Prof., Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology | Karolinska Institutet.

In vitro models for female reproductive toxicity.

Exposure to environmental chemicals is associated with reduced fertility in women. Many knowledge gaps remain regarding the effects of chemicals on key reproductive organs in women, and the current testing paradigms have been criticized. The state of the art in female reproductive toxicity testing is rat assays, where the impacts of chemicals on estrus cyclicity, ovarian histology, and pup counts are assessed. These assays are time-consuming and expensive, and therefore, they are only applied to high production volume chemicals. Furthermore, the relevance of the measured endpoints to women has been questioned, and there's also an ambition to phase out animal experimentation in the EU. In this talk, I will discuss how human ovarian tissue and stem cell-based embryo models could be applied to chemical safety testing in the future.

Speaker: Anneli Kruve, Assoc. Prof., Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University.

Prioritizing and elucidating the structure of toxic chemicals in complex mixtures based on complementary empirical analytical information from LC/HRMS.

Unequivocal structural elucidation of chemicals causing adverse effects in environmental samples is highly challenging due to the vast complexity of the samples, lack of reference spectra (or even structures) of anthropogenic contaminants, as well as a wide range of contamination sources and transformation pathways. As a result, ~98% of the detected features detected with nontarget high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) remain unidentified. To reduce the complexity, we suggest that it is possible to predict the (toxic) activity of chemicals detected with HRMS from their MS spectra for prioritization. We show that acute toxicity (LC for fish, water flea, and algae) and bioassay endpoints associated with endocrine disruption can be predicted with high accuracy (RMSE 0.8 log-mM and FPR of 20% at recall 90%, respectively). Even more so, for some endpoints, such as androgen receptor activation, the MS spectra prove more informative than the chemical structures and yield improved prediction accuracy. This indicates that mass spectra are highly information-rich for assessing chemical activity and such predictions will enable prioritizing chemicals of concern.

SWACCS December workshop 2023

AI and Chemical Safety - opportunities and challenges

Uppsala, Sweden

Dates: December 11th-12th 2023
Time: 11:30 – 17:10 (Day 1) & 09:00-12:30 (Day 2)
Venue: Lärosal 4, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala (Norbyvägen 18C, 752 36 Uppsala)

Welcome to the SWACCS December workshop 2023, a scientific and networking event for everyone within the SWACCS network, which has become a tradition over the past years! This year, the SWACCS December workshop will be held at the Evolutionary Biology Centre of Uppsala University on December 11th-12th, 2023 with focus on “AI and chemical safety: opportunities and challenges”.

New for this year is a mingle with SWACCS alumni who are not working in academia, an opportunity for junior SWACCS members to get inspired for possible career paths.

The program is now set and the registration is open! Please, use the form below to register:

https://doit.medfarm.uu.se/bin/kurt3/kurt/96146

Looking forward to seeing you all in Uppsala in December!

click here for more information about the program and the speaker:

Program - SWACCS December workshop 2023

SWACCS Seminar Series - December

Our consumables, safety, and essential utility under consideration.

Day: Wednesday, 6th December 2023

Time: 14:00- 15:00

Format: Zoom Meeting

Speaker: Romain Figuière, PhD student (Ian Cousins group), Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University

Title: “The application of the essential-use and functional substitution concepts to phase-out harmful chemicals from cosmetic products – Example of persistent and mobile substances”

Abstract:

Measures are needed to protect water sources from substances that are mobile, persistent and toxic (PMT) or very persistent and very mobile (vPvM). PMT/vPvM substances are used in a diverse range of applications, including consumer products. The combined application of the essential-use and functional substitution concepts has been proposed to phase out substances of concern and support the transition to safer and more sustainable chemicals, a key goal of the European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Here, we first identified the market share of PMT/vPvM containing cosmetic products. We found that 6.4% of cosmetic products available on the European market contain PMT or vPvM substances. PMT/vPvM substances were most often found in hair care products. Based on their high occurrence, the substances Allura red (CAS 25956-17-6), benzophenone-4 (CAS 4065-45-6) and climbazole (CAS 38083-17-9) were selected as case-studies for assessment of their functionality, availability of safer alternatives and essentiality. Following the functional substitution framework, we found that the technical function of Allura red was not necessary for the performance of some cosmetic products, making the use non-essential. For other applications of Allura red, as well as all applications of benzophenone-4 and climbazole, the technical function of the chemical was considered necessary for the performance. Via the alternative’s assessment procedure, which used experimental and in silico data and three different multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) strategies, safer alternatives were identified for all case-study chemicals. All assessed uses of PMT/vPvM substances were thus deemed non-essential and should consequently be phased out.

Speaker: Dr. Lisa Skedung, Researcher and project manager, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Title: “Screening and identification of polymeric PFAS in consumer products”

In the proposal for a broad PFAS restriction, prepared by Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, there is proposed concentration limit of 50 ppm total fluorine (μg/g), that includes both polymeric and non-polymeric PFAS. Since target analysis using LC-MS/MS, that is commonly used for PFAS-analysis, does not cover all PFAS nor the polymeric ones, there is a need for new analytical methods. Within the POPFREE Industry project, combustion ion chromatography (CIC)-based total fluorine (TF) determination together with pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) have successfully been used for quantification and identification of polymeric PFAS in a wide range of consumer products. Within POPFREE Industry it was used to help companies understand if they have PFAS in their products, and we now propose these methods as possible techniques for future enforcement of a broad PFAS restriction.

SWACCS Seminar

Human Biomonitoring

Welcome to SWACCS seminar with:

Speaker: Christian Lindh, Associate Professor. Group Leader at Applied Mass Spectrometry in Environmental Medicine, Lund University
Title: “Human biomonitoring as an exposure assessment method”

Date and Time: November 1 at 14:00 – 15:00
Place: Zoom: Join Zoom Meeting
https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/61379047100?pwd=S3FKZ0FnNWFORW1xNHRjUXlKZWJjQT09
Meeting ID: 613 7904 7100
Passcode: 684338

The aim of our research is to monitor human exposure to toxicants from the environment. We develop sensitive analytical methods using mass spectrometry for measurements of exposure biomarkers in human matrix (e.g. blood and urine) which can reflect external exposure levels. We also study how the body handles toxicants with respect to uptake, metabolism and excretion including analyzing biomarkers representing early biological responses. The presentation will be about how to validate a biomarker of exposure, finding new exposures and exploring difficult human matrices

Uppsala health Summit

Chemical Pollution and One Health satellite symposium

“How do we move from reactivity to proactivity?”

Uppsala Health Summit (UHS) 2023 (24.-25.10. https://www.uppsalahealthsummit.se/our-summits/chemical-pollution-and-one-health-2023/) is dedicated to one of the most pressing issues with regards to human and planetary health: chemical pollution.

Under the title “Chemical Pollution and One Health: From reactivity to proactivity” scientists, policy-makers, and regulators and other key stakeholder will gather to discuss the critical next steps and how to speed up efforts.

After the UHS 2023, on the 26.10., the Satellite Symposium on Chemical Pollution and One Health will take place, with some of the key invited speakers at the UHS. The symposium aims at further discuss the topic and the identified next steps at the summit. The symposium is free of charge and open to all interested scientists from
the natural/life sciences and social sciences, as well as other stakeholders.

Register here for the Satellite Symposium!

Preliminary schedule:
9.00-12.15
Presentations of invited speakers:

- Juliette Legler, Prof. of Toxicology, Utrecht University
- Leonardo Trasande, Prof. of Pediatrics, New York University
- Tom Zoeller, Emeritus Prof. of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Josep Jimenez-Chillaron, Senior researcher, University of Barcelona
- Åke Bergman, Senior Prof. of Environmental Chemistry, Örebro University
- Shirlee Tan, Senior toxicologist for the Seattle and King County Public Health Department
- Mikael Karlsson, Assoc. Prof. of Environmental Sciences, Uppsala University
- Baskut Tuncak, Director of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TBC)

12.15-13.15
Lunch (at own expenses)

13.15-15.15
Roundtable discussions: How do we move from reactivity to proactivity?
Group discussions on both toxicological/chemical and legal/policy aspects

15.30-16.30
Discussion in plenum and Conclusion

The symposium is free of charge and open to all interested scientists from the natural/life sciences and social sciences, as well as other stakeholders. It is organized by Uppsala University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Centre for Reproductive Biology in Uppsala (CRU), and CLL. It is taking place at the Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University.Save the date for stimulating and constructive discussions on this important topic! Further details will follow, for questions please contact Joëlle Rüegg (joelle.ruegg@ebc.uu.se).

Greetings from the organizing committee,

Ida Hallberg, SLU
Mikael Karlsson, UU
Joëlle Rüegg, UU
Diana Lupu, UU

SWACCS Seminar

Computational Toxicology and the Big Data Era

Welcome to SWACCS seminar with:

Speaker: Roxana Merino Martinez, Project Manager. Department of Clinical Science, Intervention, and technology CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital.
Title: “HEAP data life-cycle: From data to knowledge discovery”

Speaker: Phillip Antczak, Group leader. Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne CMMC, University of Cologne, Germany
Title: “Establishing new clinical understanding of disease through the use of computational biology”.

Date and Time: September 27th at 14:00 – 15:00
Place: Zoom: Join Zoom Meeting: https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/62984936586?pwd=V0Nxa2ZEMGFxTm9CQmxqYjBHTWZHZz09

Meeting ID: 629 8493 6586

Passcode: 917253

SWACCS Junior ACademy workshop (JAWS) 2023

How are risks with environmental pollution assessed – from the EU down to the local level – and how are risks perceived and communicated?

When: 24 - 25 August 2023

Where: Linnaeus University, in Kalmar

Who: PhD students / early-career and senior researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health and the environment

What: A 2-day workshop organized by the Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety (SWACCS), Linnaeus University and Linkoping University offering extensive networking opportunities and scientific seminars, and more. This year’s topic Risk management: How are risks with environmental pollution assessed – from the EU down to the local level – and how are risks perceived and communicated?

Why: Because networking is fun; communicating your science effectively is one of the most meaningful things to learn; meeting other junior and senior researchers and telling them about your research opens up new opportunities; as PhD student, you can get credits; and so much more…

How: Registration information will be sent out later this spring and feel free to forward this event to researchers you think are interested! Don’t forget to join SWACCS.

Organised by: Linnaeus University in collaboration with Linkoping University

SWACCS Seminar Series - Indoor Exposure

When: 19th April 2023, 14:00 - 15:00

Where: Zoom: https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/65420760194?pwd=R0xCSEhvN09KSUdtS3dvd0twZytRQT09

Meeting ID: 654 2076 0194

Passcode: 513675

Speaker: Thang Wang, Associate Professor. Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, Linköping University.

Title: “Comprehensive characterization of indoor dust chemical exposome by high-resolution mass spectrometry”.

Abstract:

In Northern Europe, we spend more than 90% of our time in different indoor settings. We are therefore constantly exposed to a mix of chemicals that could be released from building materials, interior decoration, textiles, furniture, flooring, cooking, consumer products, and more. These could include different manufactured chemicals such as polymers, colorants, binding agents, softeners, plasticizers and flame retardants, and some of these have been found to cause adverse health effects. Targeted chemical analysis is mainly used to investigate the occurrence of indoor organic contaminants, but recent years have seen the rise of the use of suspect screening and nontarget screening (SSA/NTA) using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In this presentation, I will present results from our studies on the use of SSA/NTA to characterize the chemicals in indoor environments using indoor dust as a representative medium. Focus will be on data analysis strategies for the detection and grouping of chemical features from HRMS as well as source apportionment of identified compounds.

Speaker: Anna-Sara Claeson, Docent. Department of Psychology, Umeå University.

Title: “Individual differences in olfactory and chemesthetic sensitivity”.

Abstract:

People are exposed daily to a variety of odorous and pungent substances. For a person with severe chemical intolerance (CI) or building-related intolerance (BRI) such exposure can result in substantial suffering and reduced quality of life. Symptoms are reported in relation to low-level chemical exposures and there is currently no established dose-response relationship between exposure to certain compounds and reports of symptoms. Most of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) identified in indoor air are non-reactive and chemicals that might be more important for symptom reports require specific sampling and analytical methods and are therefore probably not included in the measurements. There is a large individual variation in the response to exposures to certain reactive compounds. Exposure-related factors such as type of compound and duration of exposure are of importance. One example is the reactive compound acrolein that induced sensory irritation in a time-dependent manner at a concentration below previously reported detection levels and at half the Swedish occupational threshold limit. Factors related to the individual such as stress or inflammation are also of importance for reports of sensory irritation due to low level chemical exposures. Further, negative affect and information about exposure also mediate annoyance and symptoms. To understand sensory irritation from low-level exposure to VOCs we must take both individual- and environmental factors into account. 

The Norwegian Environmental Chemistry Symposium

INVITATION AND CALL FOR ABSTRACT 

January 30 – February 1,  2023

Vestlia Resort, Geilo, Norway

After pausing of the conferences since 2013, they resurged as a continuous meeting series with NECS 2020 held in September 2020 in Loen, Norway. 

The new symposium series is organized under the auspices of the Norwegian Chemical Society´s Division for Analytical Chemistry.

Catch the pulse of environmental chemistry at Geilo in 2023

This symposium is addressing leading experts, authorities, regulators and scientists within all aspects of environmental chemistry. The symposium will provide an interdisciplinary platform for students, academic, industrial researchers and public managers to present and discuss the most recent advancements, trends and concerns as well as practical challenges and solutions in environmental chemistry. 

Environmental researchers and managers will be invited for plenary lectures to address the past, present and future issues of environmental chemistry. 

We invite you to provide an oral platform or poster presentation and we sincerely hope that you will respond positively to this invitation and call for papers.

Please inform your colleagues about this opportunity to share and discuss recent research results and to get scientifically updated in a typical Norwegian informal setting. 

We look forward to your active participation in this scientific event. Following tradition, there will be time for outdoor activities during a three hours lunch break. 

The symposium invites contributions on characterization, analysis, monitoring, prevention, treatment and control of anthropogenic and naturally occurring chemical contaminants across all environmental matrices as well as related natural element cycling processes. 

Contributions that address the impact of chemical compounds on ecosystems and human health are appreciated. 

Special attention will be given to:

Life cycle assessment

Material flow analysis

Environmental decision making

Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene

Risk assessments

Trends in boreal and polar environments

Climate change and green energy

Human exposure and health

Green and sustainable chemistry

Ambient and workplace air pollutants

Registration and Abstracts

Register at our website www.envirochem.no

and send a one-page abstract to the Chairman by December 15, 2022.

Yngvar Thomassen, 

E-mai:l Yngvar.Thomassen@stami.no, Tel +47-23 19 53 20, Mobile +47-995 10 521

www.envirochem.no

SWACCS’s Annual Workshop 2022

The workshop is held on December 12-13 at Karlstad University, lunch to lunch, with dinner in the evening in central Karlstad. Two themes will be discussed. During day 1, we will focus on research communication, i.e., how we reach different recipients with our research. To help, we have Vetenskap och allmänhet (https://v-a.se) who will lecture and lead discussions in the field. During day 2, we will present upcoming EU calls and then work on establishing strong interdisciplinary research groups that can write impactful applications.

Day 1:

During the first day we will focus on Research communication. The session begins with two inspiring lectures followed by a workshop lead by the non-profit organization Vetenskap & Allmänhet:

Ellen Bruno, Stockholm University:
- Are knowledge brokers the key to bridging the gap between science and policy
Jonatan Klaminder, Umeå Universitet:
- Are biases in research communication undermining public trust in science?

Vetenskap & Allmänhet (https://v-a.se) is leading a workshop where we get to discuss and reflect on the researcher's role(s) in society and in the public conversation. The workshop is based on current research and your own experiences of research communication. It is led by Cissi Askwall, Secretary General at Vetenskap & Allmänhet, former journalist and communications manager.

Day 2:

During the second day we will continue on a successful SWACCS tradition to discuss ideas on upcoming EU calls. At the moment there are drafts circulating for two relevant calls with realistic deadlines:

HORIZON-CL6-2023-ZEROPOLLUTION: Safe-and-sustainable-by-design bio-based platform chemicals, additives, materials or products as alternatives. Deadline 28 March 2023 (First Stage) & 26 September 2023 (Second Stage)

HORIZON-HLTH-2024-ENVHLTH-2.06: The role of environmental pollution in non-communicable diseases: air, noise and light and hazardous waste pollution. 19 Sep 2023 (First Stage), 11 Apr 2024 (Second Stage) Another group will discuss ideas for a communication project proposal to Formas (deadline usually in September). Additionally, groups can form to discuss other project ideas, you are welcome to propose topics ahead of or at the workshop.

Preliminary schedule:

Måndag 12 december

11.30 – 13.00 Lunch at Restaurang Solsta Inn, Karlstads universitet, Hus 1

13.00 – 13.15 Welcome and introduction

13.15 – 16.30 Workshop on Research Communication incl. fika

Tisdag 13 december

09.00 – 09.30 Update on SWACCS activities

09.30 – 10.00 Introduction to the group discussions

10.00 – 11.00 Group discussions incl. fika

11.00 – 11.45 Reporting back from discussion groups

11.45 – 12.00 Concluding remarks

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch at Restaurang Solsta Inn, Karlstads universitet, Hus 1

Please sign up on https://swaccs2022.axacoair.se, not later than Friday December 2.

Warmly welcome,

CG Bornehag and Joëlle Ruëgg

SWACCS Seminar Series:

Food safety in a sustainable world

When: Wednesday, 23. November 2022, 14:00 - 15:00

Where: Zoom Meeting ID: 692 6301 9893 Passcode: 234346

Speaker: Johan Lundqvist, associate professor of molecular toxicology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU

Title: “Effect-based methods using cultured cells – applications for drinking water safety and toxicity testing of food contact materials”

Abstract: Humans are exposed to very complex mixtures of chemical substances in the environment, both naturally occurring compounds and anthropogenic pollutants. For many toxicity endpoints, the well-known and well-studied pollutants can only explain a very small fraction of the observed effects in complex environmental samples. Unknown chemicals and/or mixture effects are causing a very large proportion of the toxicity. The great strength with effect-based methods, for example cultured cells modified to respond to the presence of different classes of hazardous compounds, is that they integrate the effects of both known and unknown compounds in a sample as well as mixture effects. This presentation will present some examples from our research, showing how such methods can be used for research in toxicological food safety.

Speaker: Sofia Boqvist, Senior Lecturer and External Collaboration Specialist Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health, SLU

Title: “Food security, safety and sustainability – from Salmonella in Cambodia to development of dynamic food labels in Sweden”

Abstract: There are several linkages between food safety and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There are also several trade-offs between food safety and food security. Aspects on this will be discussed in this presentation. As a starting point I will give a few examples on ongoing research contributing to improved food safety. Those examples are public health hazards associated with Salmonella infection and antimicrobial resistance in the meat value chain in Cambodia, development of dynamic food labels to reduce food waste without introducing health risks, and lastly the increasing need for transdisciplinary research to tackle future food safety challenges.

Contemporary Issues in Chemical Risk Workshop (Hybrid)

When: November 18 - 19, 2022

Onsite participation:

University of Eastern Finland (UEF)
Lecture hall: Tietoteknia auditorium, Street address: Savilahdentie 6, 70210 Kuopio, Finland

Online participation via Teams:
Access live-stream lectures and lecture recordings for 14 days.
(Link will be sent to registered participants)

Registration to the meeting: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/F91180766605EFF8

Registration fees:
The course (onsite/online) is free for students and personnel of UEF.
The course is free for all graduate and doctoral students. The course fee for other academic
participants is 50 € and for people outside academia 100 €.
Participation to dinner is 50 €.
The deadline for registration is Nov 4, 2022

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

SWACCS Seminar Series:

ONE health perspective, the risks posed by chemicals on ecosystem and human health

When: Wednesday, 19. October 2022, 14:00 - 15:00

Where: Zoom Meeting ID: 628 2913 3221 Passcode: 657526

Speaker: Veronica Lizano-Fallas, PhD student at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University

Title: “Proteomics as key aid for addressing the 21st century challenge of chemical risk assessment”

Abstract: The development of novel methodology to unbiased identification of mechanisms of action of chemicals, including novel or poor-studied compounds without any previous solid knowledge, or even compounds in a phase of chemical characterization, would address one of today´s challenges of environmental and human toxicology. Traditional methodologies evaluate the impact in well-known pathways that have been previously described as affected by one specific compound. Therefore, there are several assays that are routinely evaluated however will not offer a specific response for one single compound. In our project, we envisioned that the application of thermal proteome profiling approaches combined with multi-criteria decision-making analysis could be a promising alternative to gain time and resources in chemicals assessment.

Speaker: Natàlia Corcoll, Associate Professor at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg

Title: “Structural and functional responses of aquatic biofilms under chemical stress: from molecules to communities”

Abstract: The high degree of chemical pollution in aquatic ecosystems and the decrease of biodiversity and community functions have raised the urgent need for ecotoxicological studies using natural communities. In this seminar I will present results from several ecotoxicological studies in Swedish rivers and microcosms experiments using freshwater and marine biofilms, focusing on impacts on algal and microbial diversity, tolerance acquisition, primary production, and biofilm quality (food resource for benthic microorganisms).

INVESTIGATING DEVELOPMENTAL AND REPRODUCTIVE EFFECTS OF CHEMICALS

FROM IN VITRO TO HUMAN POPULATIONS

Join the hybrid seminar "Investigating developmental and reproductive effects of chemicals: from in vitro to human populations" to honor the winner of The Swedish Society of Toxicology Award for best PhD Thesis in Toxicology 2021: Ida Hallberg, Department of Clinical Sciences, SLU.

At the seminar we will also have talks from Anna-Maria Andersson, Dept. of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Denmark, and Terje Svingen, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark

Please sign up via SFTs website no later than September 28 if you are attending the seminar in Uppsala. Use this URL to join online via zoom. Passcode: toxicology

EpiChrom 2022

Registration for the this year´s EpiChrom Meeting at Uppsala University is open and the deadline for abstract submission approaching!
Submit you abstracts for talks or poster until the 24th of June.
Please, spread the word!

The EpiChrom is the annual meeting of Epigenetics and Chromatin research in Sweden.
We are excited to receive, finally in person, outstanding national and international speakers.

For the registration and abstract submission, please visit the EpiChrom 2022 website:
https://www.iob.uu.se/research/environmental-toxicology/epichrom-2022-eng

Confirmed invited Speakers
Richard Pilsner - Wayne State University, MI, USA - Keynote
Marc Bühler - Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland - Keynote
Katarina Gapp – ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Anita Öst – Linköping University, Sweden
Jorge Fernandes – Nord University, Norway
Karin Broberg – Karolinska Institute/ Lund University, Sweden
Vaishali Katju – Uppsala University, Sweden
Oskar Karlsson – Stockholm University

SWACCS Junior ACademy workshop (JAWS)

When: 25. - 26. August 2022

Where: Stockholm University

Who: PhD students / early-career and senior researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health and the environment

What: A 2-day workshop organized by the Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety (SWACCS), Stockholm University (SU) and Karolinska Institutet (KI), offering both a seminar day and new insights into this year’s theme “Steps towards sustainable chemicals and a toxic-free environment“ (day 1) and one-day course in Science communication (day 2).

Why: Because networking is fun; communicating your science effectively is one of the most meaningful things to learn; meeting other junior and senior researchers and telling them about your research opens up new opportunities; winning a poster prize; getting credits; mingle & dinner

How: Register for the event (Deadline 22nd of June) and feel free to forward this to researchers you think are interested! Don’t forget to join SWACCS.

Day 1 - Seminars (25.08.2022):

• 9:00 - 9:10: Short introduction / Welcome / Coffee

• 9:10 - 9:20: Joëlle Rüegg (Uppsala University) - Introduction of SWACCS

• 9:20 - 10:05: Oleg Pajalic (Perstorp Group) - “Perstorp towards sustainability: from chemical design to last consumer”

• 10:05 - 10:15: Oskar Karlsson (Stockholm University/SFT) - SFT Information

• 10:15 - 10:30: Fika

• 10:30 - 11:15: Carl-Gustaf Bornehag (Karlstad University) - “New approaches in environmental epidemiology for better risk assessment of chemicals.”

• 11:15 - 12:00: Anna Beronius (Karolinska Institutet) - “Using Adverse Outcome Pathways to support Next Generation testing and assessment of Chemicals”

• 12:00 - 13:45: Lunch & poster session

• 13:45 - 14:30: Marlene Ågerstrand (Stockholm University) - “Chemicals regulation - Understanding and navigating the scene”

• 14:30 - 15:15: Richard Lihammar (IVL/MistraSAFEChem) - “Research program in green and sustainable chemistry”

• 15:15 - 15:30: Fika

• 15:30 - 16:15: Anna Sobek (Stockholm University) – “Circular economy: from design to re-use”

• 16:15 - 16:45: Final discussion

• 16:45 - 17:00: poster prize announcement (sponsored by SFT)

• 17:00 - End: Mingle / dinner

There will be an opportunity to present and discuss your work during a poster session between the talks!

Day 2 (26.08.2022)

Workshop on “Science communication”. An occasion to learn more about communicating your research to both a scientific and a general audience and how to use social media channels to spread your work.

• 9:00 - 12:00: Workshop on Science communication Part I (i.a.: impact on society, story telling, presentation techniques, stage presence, trust-building)

• 12:00 - 13:00: Lunch break

• 13:00 - 14:00: Panel discussion - “Twitter in Science”

• 14:00 - 16:30: Workshop on Science communication Part II (i.a.: impact on society, story telling, presentation techniques, stage presence, trust-building)

JAWS 2022 aims to promote networking among young scientists. Since there is a limit to the number of participants, PhD students and post-docs are prioritized, but senior researchers and master’s students are welcome to register as well. Registration for only one of the days is also possible.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns at jaws@aces.su.se.

SWACCS Seminar Series:

From epidemiologically identified EDC mixtures to epigenetic effects

When: Wednesday, 08. June 2022, 14:00 - 15:00

Where: Zoom Meeting ID: 628 3689 0599

Speaker: Katherine Svensson, is a PhD student in the Department of Health Sciences at Karlstad University

Title: “Exposure of EDC and nutrition during pregnancy in relation to children’s growth and body composition”

Abstract:

Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may impact early growth. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of prenatal exposure to a mixture of 26 EDCs on birthweight and weight trajectories in the SELMA study. We used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to estimate the mixture effect and identify chemicals of concern. In this analysis, we found that a one-unit increase in the EDC mixture WQS index, was associated with decreased birthweight z-scores, slower infant growth spurt rate and delayed age at infant peak growth velocity (PGV) after adjusting for potential confounders. Stratified analysis by sex, showed that delayed age at infant PGV was mostly observed in girls. Identified chemicals of concern included perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), Triclosan, phthalates, non-phthalate plasticizers, bisphenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, and PCBs. I summary, prenatal exposure to EDC mixtures was associated with lower birthweight and altered infant weight gain trajectories. 2) Good nutrition is of vital importance during pregnancy to maintain a healthy pregnancy outcome. Our objective was to explore if maternal diet is associated with children’s body composition at 7 years of age among participants in the SELMA study. Nutrient intake was calculated based on a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and diet quality was assessed with a summary index, “My Nutrition Index” (MNI). We used linear regression models to assess the relationship between MNI and children’s body composition measurements. Results indicate that better adherence to diet recommendations is associated with greater height among all children. Stratified models by sex, showed opposite associations for boys and girls. Better adherence to diet recommendations was among boys associated with greater BMI z-scores, % body fat, and skinfolds. Whereas the opposite was found among girls. In summary, these results suggest that prenatal diet may have long-term effect on children’s body composition with differences for boys and girls.

Speaker: Polina Lizunkova, PhD student at Department of Organismal Biology, Environmental Toxicology, Uppsala University.

Title: “Endocrine disrupting chemical mixture associated with lower birth weight in humans drives cellular and molecular changes in human mesenchymal stem cells”

Abstract:

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) alter functions of the endocrine system. Exposure to EDCs during sensitive developmental periods, such as during fetal and infant stages, is of particular concern, as hormonal signalling plays a vital part in development, e.g. in metabolic programming. Indeed, increasing evidence shows that prenatal EDC exposure is associated with metabolic changes and outcomes such as lower birth weight, child adiposity and high blood pressure. However, most of research studies and risk assessment regulations focus on one EDC at a time, while humans experience daily exposure to mixtures of EDCs from different sources. Hence, human health effects may be underestimated if the chemical in question is present with several other chemicals that may contribute to the same adverse outcome. Furthermore, molecular mechanisms underlying early life programming effects are not delineated. In my presentation, I will show results of a study where we delineated epigenetic changes induced by an EDC mixture that had been derived from epidemiological data. Such epigenetic changes could underlie adverse metabolic programming outcomes in humans and thus strengthen epidemiological findings.

Join the Seminar here

SWACCS Seminar Series - May 2022

Understanding the impact of our exposure to environmental chemicals in health

When: Wednesday, 04. May 2022, 14:00 - 15:00 (CEST)

Where: Zoom

https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/62374746602?pwd=MURCQUNtd0E2NTJIeXFuQmFYSmh6dz09 Meeting ID: 623 7474 6602
Passcode: 985382

Tuulia Hyötyläinen, Professor of Chemistry,

School of Science and Technology, Örebro University.

Title: “Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals is associated with sex-specific alterations in hepatic lipid metabolism”

Abstract:

Growing evidence suggests that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) interfere metabolism, and that the EDC exposure is associated with diseases such as diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In the current study, we have investigated the effects of EDC exposure on liver metabolism. We characterized the liver metabolome (via biopsy) and circulating metabolome and EDCs using comprehensive mass spectrometry-based analytical platforms. We have combined the results with different in vivo and on vitro models of exposure.  We identified association between PFAS exposure and perturbation of key hepatic metabolic pathways previously found altered in NAFLD, particularly as regards bile acid and lipid metabolism. Importantly, we identified stronger associations between the metabolome, chemical exposure and NAFLD-associated clinical variables (liver fat, HOMA-IR) in females versus males. Overall, our results indicate that the females may be more sensitive to the harmful impacts of PFAS. Lipid-related changes subsequent to PFAS exposure may be secondary to the interplay between PFAS and bile acid metabolism.

Maria Sapounidou, Senior research engineer (Patrik Andersson group),

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University.

Title: “Application of in silico methods to decipher the impact of chemical exposure to human and environmental health”

Abstract:

In silico methods have been gaining traction in risk assessment the last decade. This presentation will focus on how current in silico methodologies can serve as the link to bridge the gap between chemistry, in vitro information, and exposure to assess the impact of chemical exposure to human and environmental health.

Swedish Society of Toxicology - Annual Meeting

Topic: Food Safety - How to deal with risks and benefits

When: Friday, 29. April 2022 kl 9:30, Scientific Program kl 11:00, Dinner kl 17:00

Where: De Geersalen, Geohuset, Stockholm University

The registration for the Swedish Society of Toxicology annual meeting is now open. Take the opportunity to meet people interested in toxicology, win poster awards, and discuss food safety. We will also have a dinner in the evening. Click here for more information.

Participation: registration via the SFT webpage, deadline is April 19

SWACCS Seminar Series: Particle Toxicity

When: Wednesday, 30. March 2022, 14:00 - 15:00 (CEST)

Where: Zoom (see link below)

1) Title: “Health risks associated with exposure to air pollution has been underestimated”

Speaker: Christer Johansson, Professor in atmospheric science, Department of Environmental Sciences, Stockholm University.

Abstract:

Recent global calculations indicates that around 10 million people die prematurely every year from air pollutant exposure due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels – more than double what is reported in the large Global Burden of Disease study for all types of combustion and other sources. Effects on mortality is just the tip of the iceberg. In this talk I will mainly focus on evidence of health risks associated with ambient air pollution based on recent epidemiological studies and its implications for mitigations to reduce the exposure and risks

2) Title: “Assessing Toxicity of Nanoparticles – Quick or Complicated?

Speaker: Hanna I. Karlsson, Associate Professor in Toxicology. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute.

Abstract:

For assessing toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs), quick assays that enable efficient screening of potential toxicity and underlying mechanisms would be very beneficial. A promising approach is to use reporter cell lines. The ToxTracker reporter assay consists of several mouse embryonic stem (mES) cell lines that have been modified with different green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged reporters for various cellular signaling pathways involved in carcinogenesis. The assay enables to quickly monitor the activation of signaling pathways associated with DNA damage, oxidative stress, general p53-dependent cellular stress as well as protein unfolding response. We have used these reporters to investigate the (geno)toxicity of various (n=33) metal- or metal oxide NPs as well as quantum dots (QDs) in different sizes. The results showed that many NPs induced the oxidative stress reporters. However, fewer activated reporters related to DNA damage; CuO, Co, CoO, CdTe QDs, Mn, Mn3O4, V2O5, and welding NPs. Thus, these NPs appear to be of particular concern when considering genotoxicity induced by metal- and metal oxide NPs. The cellular responses to NPs under short-term submerge conditions might differ from those observed after long-term exposure or at the more physiological air-liquid interface (ALI). To use ALI exposure is, however, much more complicated and there is still limited understanding whether such approach has major advantages in terms of e.g. sensitivity or better correlation to in vivo data. This presentation will give insight in these more complicated in vitro systems and furthermore discuss how the air concentration in an occupational setting might be compared to doses used in vitro.

ZOOM:

https://liu-se.zoom.us/j/69714595061?pwd=VjRMTDlWS3FsMlZGNmJYRjRkVysydz09

Meeting ID: 697 1459 5061
Passcode: 164278

SFT Seminar January 2022: “Mixture toxicity: from research to risk assessment”

When: Friday, 21. January 2022, 14:00 - 16:00 (CEST)

Where: Zoom (see link below)

Description: As was discussed in the previous SFT seminar, the new EU Strategy for Sustainability placed an emphasis on the group-wise regulation and accounting for mixtures. In this seminar the experts in the field will dive into their research on the development of new methods to study and predict mixture toxicity, development of new methods to identify relevant chemical mixtures, improving risk assessment and more.

This is a free seminar for all, engaging a broad science and policy communication and open discussion.

Structure:  Three speakers with 30 min presentations each followed by some immediate short questions, and a 30 min panel discussion at the end of all the presentations.

Speakers: Prof. Dr. Rolf Altenburger (RWTH Aachen), Prof. Dr. Chris Gennings (Icahn School of Medicine), Prof. Dr. Christina Rudén (Stockholm University)

more information about the speakers and the link to the zoom meeting can be found here: https://toxikolog.se/english/activites/seminar1/chemical-mixtures.html

Chemicals in our waters – What research is needed to secure a clean water environment and safe drinking water for the year 2099?

When: December 15:th 2021, 11:00 to December 16:th 14:00.
Where: Conference Centre Wallenberg, Medicinaregatan 20A, Gothenburg.

Welcome to the 2021 SWACCS workshop that will be held in Gothenburg in collaboration with the Centre for Future Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Strategies (FRAM) at the University of Gothenburg. The theme of this year’s workshop is “Chemicals in our waters – What research is needed to secure a clean water environment and safe drinking water for the year 2099?”
The workshop will focus on group discussions addressing future needs in the monitoring of chemicals in waters and the biological effects of these chemicals. Representatives from Swedish associations and agencies; Swedish water (Svenskt vatten), the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Havs och Vattenmyndigheten), and the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), will give their views on the topic. Researchers will present ongoing research. The main aim of the workshop is to discuss if we are focusing on the most serious problems regarding chemicals in waters and what gaps need to be filled.
The meeting will be organized as a hybrid meeting so most parts will be possible to join digitally. On the evening of December 15:th, there will be a workshop dinner, at your own expense, for mingle and a long-awaited get together.

NOTE: there is a limited number of seats covered by the FRAM centre so please register directly to ensure your free registration to the workshop.

The SWACCS working group for scientific interactions is happy to announce the first scientific interaction seminar.

When May 3 2021, 15:00-17:00 (GMT+2)

What: The topic of this zoom-based seminar is PFAS: current levels in Swedish waters, how to determine a safe level and what can be done to lower the exposure. We have invited three speakers who will give us important information regarding these topics:

1. PFASs levels in Swedish lakes and water reservoirs. Oksana Golovko, a researcher at the Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, SLU Uppsala.

2. What is a safe PFAS limit in drinking water and when does the exposure become toxic? Mattias Öberg, Associate professor at Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet.

3. Can we do anything about the water contamination? Are there any remediation techniques for water and soil? Lutz Ahrens, Associate Professor in Organic Environmental Chemistry at SLU Uppsala.

The presentations will be followed by a plenary discussion. The overall aim of the SWACCS interaction seminars is to enhance scientific exchange and networking between researchers. This is the first organized seminar, but it is our hope that initiatives for new seminars will be taken by members in SWACCS with the overall goal to increase scientific interactions between research groups within topics that are of interest for members. If you want to be part of the SWACCS scientific interaction working group or have suggestions for future seminar topics, please contact elin.engdahl@ebc.uu.se.

The seminar will be held on zoom. The zoom link will be sent to registered participants 1 day before the seminar.

SWACCS Junior Academy Workshop (JAWS)

When: 26-27 August 2021

Where: Online

Who: Ph.D. students / early-career and senior researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health, and the environment.

What: A workshop organized by the Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety (SWACCS) and Umeå University, offering scientific seminars, extensive networking opportunities, and an occasion to learn more about visualizing and communicating your science.

Why: Because networking is fun; communicating your science effectively is one of the most meaningful things to learn; meeting other junior and senior researchers and telling them about your research opens up new opportunities; as a Ph.D. student, you can get credits; The Swedish society of toxicology (SFT) prices and memberships to the best posters and speakers; and so much more…

How: All you need to do is to become a member of SWACCS, join here. Registration information will be sent out later this spring.

Agenda

Day 1, Aug 26:

09:00-16:00 Workshop/course on “How to make a graphical abstract” (0.5 credit)

17:00 Online social event

Day 2, Aug 27:

09:00-12:00 Morning session. Keynote lectures by Dr. Maria Wennberg from Umeå University "Using human biobanks for studies of environmental pollutants and disease" and Dr. Jessica Legradi from Free University of Amsterdam ''Zebrafish as a systems toxicology model for developmental neurotoxicity''. Followed by short talks given by junior speakers selected among applicants.
12.45-16.00 Afternoon session. Poster session with awards granted by the Swedish society for toxicology (SFT), discussion groups on current issues in toxicology, JAWS meeting (optional)

SWACCS achievements in its initial phase 

SWACCS is a  network between researchers at 13 different universities whose vision is a chemical-safe world.  Swaccs aims at effective collaboration between academic research and education on one side and  societal sectors on the other. 

Since its launch on the 1st of January 2019, it’s been coordinated by Örebro University (ORU). During  the initial phase 2019-2020, Swaccs has built up a structure that allows for contributions from all the  13 universities via the contact committee with regular meetings, has established a webpage that  includes a collection of relevant master courses given at different Swedish universities, and has  organized two workshops for junior scientists (“Swaccs JAWS”), two annual workshops (“Swaccs  December workshops”), and two workshops dedicated to specific calls within the Horizon 2020  projects that have resulted in competitive applications involving a number of Swedish scientists.  

New structure, same ambitions  

From 1st of January 2021, Swaccs’ structure will change, from a centralized coordinating hub to local activity nodes (Swaccs university nodes, SWUN) that interact via the steering committee (consisting  of two representatives of each university) and topical working groups (WGs). Please see the  organization sketch below. The Swaccs executive group (SWEG), consisting of five representatives  from different universities, will coordinate the activities at the different levels. For the first period,  SWEG will consist of Joëlle Rüegg (UU), Patrik Andersson (UMU), Carl-Gustaf Bornehag (KAU), Ingrid  Ericson Jogsten (ORU) och Anders Glynn (SLU). 

The new structure is built on active university nodes and WGs, where the WGs should ensure that  Swaccs core activities are maintained and further developed. The following WGs are suggested to  cover the core activities: 

1. WG research interactions: in charge of identifying relevant calls and organization of topical  workshops to foster new collaborations. 

2. WG competence provision: In charge of developing university collaboration in the advanced  education field related to chemicals, environment and health and also to create desirable  short courses for doctoral studies. 

3. WG Communication: in charge of the Swaccs webpage and other (social) media appearances.

4. WG societal interaction: contact point for agencies etc. 

5. WG December workshop: in charge of organizing the annual Swaccs workshops

6. WG JAWS: in charge of organizing the annual Swaccs junior academy workshops  

Suggestions for other activities within these WGs or other WGs (including WG members) are  welcome! 

December workshop 2020, a milestone for building a strong Swaccs 

The focus of this year’s December workshop is to fill the new structures with life and engagement. It  is clear that the prerequisites to build up the university nodes and to engage in WGs vary between  individuals and universities. But every contribution count! The workshop aims at providing  inspiration on how to build up local nodes balancing effort with gain, and how even small  contributions in a WG can have impact and strengthen Swaccs. 

Swaccs annual December workshop, December 15, 2020

When: December 15th, 2020, 09:30 -16:10

Where: Zoom

Aim of the workshop: From 1st of January 2021, Swaccs’ structure will change, from a centralized coordinating hub to local activity nodes that interact via the steering committee and topical working groups (WGs). More information is found in the attachment. The focus of this year’s December workshop is to fill the new structures with life and engagement. It is clear that the prerequisites to build up the university nodes and to engage in WGs vary between individuals and universities. But every contribution count! The workshop aims at providing inspiration on how to build up local nodes balancing effort with gain, and how even small contributions in a WG can have impact and strengthen Swaccs.

Please see the attached document on Swaccs 2019-2020 and structure from 2021.

Agenda

09:30 Welcome and introduction to the day Background on establishing Swaccs, vision and goals. Results of Swaccs 2019-2020 (Åke Bergman och Carl-Gustaf Bornehag).

09:55 Swaccs into 2021 and onwards (Joëlle Rüegg)

10:15-10:45 Poll among the participants for who is going where of the groups: Themes 1-3:

• Theme 1: Communication and societal interaction

• Theme 2: Research interaction and infrastructure

• Theme 3: Educational cooperation, development and competence provision

10:15 How to establish strong university nodes at partnering universities within Swaccs. Introduction with examples from current work at some universities. (Joëlle Rüegg)

10:30 Short break

10:40 Zoom Breakout Group discussions on how to build strong university nodes – thoughts and ideas.

11:45 Lunch

12:30 Plenary report from the first group work. Discussion and conclusions.

13:30 Introduction to some intended working groups within Swaccs. (Joëlle Rüegg)

13:45 Zoom Breakout Group discussion on working groups, their activities, crew etc. We plan six discussion groups with three themes already presented.

15:00 Plenary report from the second group work. Discussion and conclusions.

16:00 Final words from Åke Bergman

16:10 Closure and end of the WS

Racial / Ethnic Differences in EDC Exposures

When: 12 November 2020 13:00 PM US Eastern Time

Where: https://www.healthandenvironment.org/webinars/96547

This is the third webinar in the series, Young EDC Scientists Showcase (YESS). During this webinar, two student researchers will discuss their work on racial and ethnic disparities in EDC exposures. Brandi Smith of the University of Illinois will discuss her work on racial differences of phthalate exposure in menopausal women. Marissa Chan of Harvard University will discuss her work on EDC exposures and personal care products.

Brandi Patrice Smith is currently a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Informatics program. Her research focuses on understanding how phthalate exposure in menopausal women affects health outcomes. She uses machine learning approaches to tackle this issue.  

Marissa Chan is currently studying toward a Master of Science in Environmental Health at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the James-Todd lab. Her research interests and work experience focus on the intersection of place-based environmental hazards and exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in personal care and consumer products.

Treatment methods for the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from drinking water: optimizing existing and exploring novel treatment techniques

PhD Thesis Defense for Vera Franke

When: 09 October 2020 14:00

Where: Online

Link to thesis: https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/17535/
Author / Respondent: MSc Vera Franke
External reviewer / Opponent: Detlef Knappe, Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
City: Uppsala
Location: Room Audhumbla, VHC building, Ultuna

informationsseminarium om ett nytt EU-Partnerskapsprogram om riskbedömning av kemikalier (PARC)

When: 07 September 2020

Where: Online

What: Partnerskapsprogrammet Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC) är ett stort s.k. “co-founded partnership program” inom EU:s kommande ramprogram Horizon Europe och planeras att starta 2022 och pågå under sju år. PARC kommer att underlätta övergången till nästa generations riskbedömning i linje med den Gröna givens vision för en giftfri miljö för att förbättra skyddet för människor och miljön. Programmet är unikt genom att det kommer att drivas av myndigheters behov av forskning och innovation inom kemisk riskbedömning, i samarbete med akademin och andra forskningsaktörer. Här kan du läsa mer.

Syftet med PARC är att stärka kapaciteten i Europa inom flera områden: human biomonitorering; monitorering i miljön och i livsmedel; toxikologi och riskbedömning; exponeringsbedömning; emerging pollutants; kemikalieblandningar; validering; standardisering och referensmaterial; riskbedömningsmetodik; datahantering och analys; kommunikation; utbildning; prioritering och hållbarhet. Arbetspaket med specifika uppgifter kommer att formas för de olika områdena.

Redan nu kan du påverka innehållet och prioriteringar inom PARC genom att svara på enkäten som är bifogad som länk nedan. Sista datum är den 18 september.

I Sverige har flera regulatoriska myndigheter och universitet varit involverade i planeringen av partnerskapsprogrammets innehåll. I denna så kallade preliminära hubb ingår Kemikalieinspektionen, Naturvårdsverket, Livsmedelsverket, Folkhälsomyndigheten, Havs- och vattenmyndigheten, Arbetsmiljöverket och Läkemedelsverket samt Formas, Karolinska institutet, Stockholms universitet och Örebro universitet.

Vi bjuder nu in till ett digitalt informationsmöte (på svenska) för att berätta mer om PARC och
för att svara på frågor. Sprid gärna denna inbjudan till fler som kan tänkas vara intresserade.

2nd annual Swaccs Junior Academy Workshop (JAWS)

When: 25-26 August 2020

Where: Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala

Who: PhD students / early-career and senior researchers working in all fields related to chemicals, health and environment.

What: A workshop offering scientific seminars, extensive networking opportunities, and an opportunity to learn more about visualizing and communicating your science. This year’s JAWS is organized by the Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety (SWACCS) and the Centre for Reproductive Biology in Uppsala (CRU). 

The Formas project EDC-2020 is contributing financially to JAWS. Furthermore, the Swedish Society of Toxicology (SFT) is sponsoring parts of the travel and accommodation costs for PhD students and postdocs who are SFT members.

The workshop on scientific poster design (day 1 and poster session day 2) can be taken as a 0.5 ECTS PhD course. Three 15 min slots for oral presentations at the minisymposium on reproductive toxicology (day 2) are available for PhD students/postdocs. Selected speakers will get their whole travel and accommodation costs refunded by the EDC-2020 project. Abstracts can be submitted in the registration form.

Please note: as for now, JAWS is planned as a physical workshop. However, due to the covid-19 pandemic, it might be changed to a very similar program in digital format. More information about the format will be sent out by the end of June.

Detailed program: 

25th of August

10:00-17:00 Workshop in Scientific poster design*

10:00-10:20: Welcome and short information about SWACCS (Joëlle Rüegg, Uppsala University)

10:20-17:00: Lectures and hands-on poster creations (Andreas Dahlin, Vizualise Your Science AB)

18:30: Dinner at one of Uppsala’s Nations (tba)

26th of August

9:00-11:05: Minisymposium on reproductive toxicology (sponsored by CRU)

9:00-09:10: Welcome and short introduction by CRU 

9:10-10:00: Key note lecture by Majorie van Duursen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

10:00-10:20 coffee break

10:20-10:35: Selected oral presentation

10:35-10:50: Selected oral presentation

10:50-11:05: Selected oral presentation

11:10-13:00: Poster session* (including poster award) and lunch

13:00-16:30 SWACCS contact committee meeting

13:00-14:00: Open for all participants and will focus on discussions on how to engage and participate in SWACCS.

14.30-16.30: SWACCS contact committee members only.

*mandatory sessions for students attending the 0.5 ECTS PhD course

Coffee breaks, lunch and dinner are included for registered participants.

SWACCS workshop: Chemical mixtures – where do we stand, what’s next?

16 DECEMBER @ Stockholm University

The Swedish Academic Consortium for Chemical Safety (SWACCS) welcomes you to a first SWACCS December workshop (successor of the Swetox annual workshop) entitled “Chemical mixtures – where do we stand, what’s next?”. SWACCS has since January 2019 taken over the role of Swetox with the ambition to join forces in the fields of chemicals, environment and human health. A major aim is to create openings for networking and interdisciplinary science bringing together researchers, policy makers and stakeholders from authorities, industry and civil society.

Exposure of complex chemical mixtures and related health effects has been recognized as a pressing issue in the field of risk assessment that requires novel strategies and transdisciplinary approaches. On the first SWACCS December workshop we will address this issue. The aim is to introduce the current state and ongoing research projects and then proceed to discussions on how to move forward research and science to policy efforts in this field.

Presentations include the governmental investigation on chemical mixtures launched in October this year by Professor Christina Rudén (SU and head of the investigation) as well as speed-talks of recently funded Formas-projects addressing the topic. They will be followed by sessions for discussions and networking.

Schedule

10:00 Welcome from Swaccs
10:10-12:00 Speed talks by PIs of Formas funded projects in “Nontoxic environment 2018 – combination effects”

• Anders Glynn, SLU – ”Combination effects of toxic chemical compounds and elements on child/adolescent health - an integrated epidemiological and bioactivity testing approach”

• Jana Weiss, SU – ”Risk modeling of mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals relevant to human exposure, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo as model organism (RiskMix)”

• Maj Rundlöf, LU – ”Exposure and effects of chemical mixtures on bees (MixToxBee) - supporting pesticide monitoring and bee risk assessment”

• Jonathan Martin, SU – ”Toxicity of personalized contaminant mixtures in human blood by nontarget exposomics and high-throughput in vitro screening”

• Petter Melin, RISE – “Smart, benign and synergistic antifouling cocktails for achieving a non-toxic environment: formulation and ecotoxicological evaluation"

Stretch your legs

• Oskar Karlsson, SU – “The chemical exposome and male reproduction: sperm alterations and effects on child health”

• Johan Lundqvist, SLU – ”Effect-directed analysis as a tool towards a non-toxic environment - identification of mixture effects and toxicity drivers in water (DANTE)”

• Maria Kippler, KI – ”A systems toxicology-based approach to reveal early-life dysregulation of body functions by combined exposures to toxic metals”

• Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, KAU – ”RACH-Mix, New tools for risk assessment of chemical mixtures”

• Pauliina Damdimopoulou, KI – “Phthalates in female reproduction –impact of mixture composition on hazard characterization”

12:00 LUNCH with sandwiches
13:00-13:15 Annika Hanberg, KI - “European Partnership for Chemical Risk Assessment”
13:15-14:30 Group discussions: Knowledge gaps and challenges in chemical mixture research
14:30 COFFEE BREAK with fruit
15:00-16:10 Plenary discussion based on the group work achievements
16:10-17:00 Presentation and discussion of “The governmental investigation regarding combination effects and group wise assessment of chemicals: From word to action”, Christina Rudén, ACES, SU
17:00 Concluding remarks

EDC-2020 Final Conference

5-6 NOVEMBER (Two different locations)

Background and project objectives

EDC-2020 has been the Research Council Formas supported project “Meeting future regulatory and societal needs regarding endocrine disrupters: Exposure, effects and risks” that was approved as part of the research development during the first five years of the Swedish toxicology sciences research center (Swetox). The research project has focused on endocrine disrupting chemicals with the objectives:

• to create an enabling environment for strong research on EDCs and for scientific advances and innovations, which would benefit the field of toxicology-related sciences as a whole

• to establish an overarching national program for research on EDCs, optimizing cooperation between national universities as well as with Swetox, and improve interdisciplinary research

• to establish an international EDC collaboration platform including world-leading experts

• to establish a national research school on toxicology-related sciences (TRS).

 Conference goals

The main goals of the final conference are two-fold. First, to reach out to decision- and policymakers and present the overarching and specific key messages as they have come together at the end of the project. This goal is addressed at the first day of the conference. Day two of the conference addresses the second goal which is to present the in-depth science that took place within the frame of EDC-2020. Two sub-projects conducted at Swetox with financial support from Karolinska Institutet are also included into the presentations at this final conference.

 EDC-2020 will launch its policy brief at the conference addressing the general public as a well as scientists.

Conference program November 5
Tändstickspalatset, Västra Trädgårdsgatan 15, Stockholm 

09:30-10:00: Registration and coffee/tea

10:00-10.15: Opening session, Words of welcome, Åke Bergman, EDC-2020 Coordinator, Örebro University

10:15-10:30: A Swedish perspective on Research for Environment and Health, Ingrid Petersson, GD, Forskningsrådet Formas

10:30-11:00: Introduction to EDC-2020 with Key messages, Åke Bergman

11:00-11:40: Comments on EDC-2020 in general and on the overarching Key messages, Prof. Rolf Altenburger, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, Prof. Elaine Faustman, School of Public Health University of Washington, Seattle; Additional contributions TBA

11.40-12.00: Discussion

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13.00-13.10: New methodologies for safer limit values and fewer animals in toxicity testing; Mattias Öberg

13.10-13.20: Environmental chemicals can harm the body's natural ability to break down its own hormones and other chemicals; Emma Vincent

13.20-13.30: Predicting cellular accumulation of chemicals; Vesna Munic Kos

13.30-13.50: Views from EDC-2020 visiting scientists, Prof. Karen Kidd, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, Prof. R. Thomas Zoeller, Univ of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

13.50-14.00: Exposure of human oocytes and fetuses to EDCs; Pauliina Damdimopoulou

14.00-14.10: Epigenetic changes can explain how prenatal chemical exposure impairs brain development; Joëlle Rüegg

14.10-14.20: New methods to mimic the lung will help us understand health effects from airborne pollutants; Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno

14.20-15.10: Refreshments

15.10-15.20: Phthalates are easily taken up by inhalation; Annette Krais

15.20-15.30: Household dust is an important route of exposure to chemicals; Åsa Gustafsson and Per Gerde

15.30-16.00: Panel and open discussion, EDC-2020 reviewers and Reference group members

16.00-16.30: Educational efforts and competence building; Annika Hanberg

16.30-16:55: Post EDC-2020 and Swetox: Swaccs

16:55-17.00: Closure of Day 1

Dinner at 18:00 for those that have registered for that.

Conference program November 6
Ahlmansalen, in the Geo-building, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, Stockholm University 

09:00-9:10: Introduction to the day; Åke Bergman

9:10-09:40: Household dust and exposure to chemicals; Åsa Gustafsson/Per Gerde

9:40-10:10: Human uptake studies with phthalates; Annette Krais

10:10-10:40: Inhaled particles: in vitro models to evaluate complex mixtures; Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno

10:40-11:00: Refreshments

11:00-11:30: Epigenetic effects of EDCs- from mechanisms to human health;               Joëlle Rüegg

11:30-12:00: Highly accumulating chemicals and pharmaceuticals – biological effects and methods for prediction; Vesna Munic Kos

12:00-12:30: Environmental chemicals and fertility in women; Pauliina Damdimopoulou

12:30-13:15: Lunch

13:15-13:45: Endocrine disruption through altered biotransformation; Emma Vincent

13:45-14:15: New approaches to increase the accuracy of risk assessment with fewer laboratory animals; Mattias Öberg

14:15-15:00: Discussion on the values of the Formas project and perspectives on research needs

15:00: Concluding remarks and closure; Åke Bergman

Seminar on prenatal exposure for mixtures of environmental chemicals and children´s growth

25 September (09.00-15.00) @ Karlstad University

Attending: Karlstad University, Lund University, Göteborg University, Karolinska Institutet, & Örebro University

09.00-09-30—Welcome and presentation of people (CG Bornehag)

09.30-10.00—Presentation of the SELMA study (CG Bornehag)

10.00-10.30—Presentation of Ronneby data (NN)

10.30-11.00—Coffee

11.00-11.30—Mixture exposures; introduction to WQS regression and discussion (Chris Gennings)

11.30-12.15—Children´s growth; introduction to non-linear modelling and discussion (Eva Tanner)

12.15-13.15—Lunch

13.15-14.00—Prenatal mixture exposure and children´s growth; presentation of data from the SELMA study and discussion (Katherine Svensson)

14.00-15.00—Discussion

15.00—Closing

Presenters;

• Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, PhD, Karlstad University, Sweden

• Chris Gennings, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA

• Eva Tanner, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA

• Katherine Svensson, PhD-student, Karlstad University, Sweden

SweNanoSafe National Workshop on Functional and Safe Nanomaterials

19 September 2019, from 10.00 to 16.00 @ Ideon Science Park, Lund

We invite you to the workshop: “Functional and Safe Nanomaterials – Collaboration between Academia and Industry”. Focus will be on how to increase mutual understanding so that research results can be applied more efficient by industry, but also to ensure that academic researchers understand the industry's needs. This is a follow-up to last summer’s workshop on Nanosafety Research & Education.

Please find the preliminary agenda and registration form at the following link. We welcome your registration by 30th August. Participation is on a first come first serve basis as the number of seats are limited to 60.

Find the report here from last year’s workshop, concerning research needs and implementation of research results for regulation, development and safe use of nanomaterials. 

Questions will be answered by Rune Karlsson (rune.karlsson@swenanosafe.se or 070 - 352 4807).

SWACCS Junior academy workshop

16-17 September, 2019 (Monday 11 am to Tuesday 3 pm) @ Örebro university

Register here

The preliminary program can be found below, and more detailed/practical information Can also be found here.

With a theme of Career development within chemicals, health and the environment, the workshop is aimed at junior researchers, PhD students, and postdocs at all Swedish universities active in all areas related to chemicals, health, and the environment.

The workshop will be a mix of keynote speakers and group activities focusing on research network building and how to present your research.

Keynote speakers will cover the following topics and more:

• How to succeed in academia

• Mobility between academia and private/public sector

• Job market outside of academia

• Building your research network and market yourself

UPDATED SCHEDULE

The role of low-dose chemical mixtures in human health: An elephant in the room

A Presentation by Duk-Hee LeeM.D., Ph.D. Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Korea

12 September 12.00-13.00 @ Uppsala University Waldenströmsalen, Rudbeck ground floor C11

Dr. Duk-Hee Lee, Professor of Epidemiology, focusses her research on health effects of chronic low dose exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in humans, with particularly interest in the role of lipophilic chemicals stored in adipose tissue on the risk of common obesity-related diseases. Dr. Lee has published more than 200 research articles in areas of chronic disease epidemiology and environmental epidemiology.

Points for participating PhD students: 16-20 seminars gives 0.5 hp. Own presentation gives another 0.5 hp

Host: Prof. Monica Lind

International Symposium on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (ISPAC)

9-12 September, 2019 @ Örebro university

Official website can be found here

After a four year hiatus, the world’s premier conference on PACs is coming to charming central Sweden. With its surrounding pristine nature reserves, top-notch interdisciplinary research groups, and convenient rail links to Gothenburg and Stockholm, Örebro University proudly welcomes you to ISPAC 2019.

This year’s meeting will continue the long tradition of ISPAC meetings. The first meeting was organized in 1976 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Starting in 1995, the meetings have alternated between North America and Europe. The 2019 edition will be the first time ISPAC meeting is held in Sweden.

ISPAC meeting is truly interdisciplinary, covering a wide range of topics, spanning from analytical chemistry to ecotoxicology to chemical synthesis to interstellar, among others. With such diverse topics, participants of ISPAC meeting will have the opportunity to exchange and share their research ideas, while also learning about the latest research in the world of PACs. The stimulating sessions will also include opportunities to network with industry representatives as they exhibit chemical products, analytical instruments, and services related to the study of PACs.

Key dates and information

• Abstract submission open: March 1, 2019

• Abstract submission close: June 30, 2019

• PAC Research Award nomination deadline: June 1, 2019

• Early bird registration open: April 1, 2019

• Early bird registration close: June 17, 2019

• Late registration open: June 18, 2019

• Late registration close: August 12, 2019

• Conference venue: Musikhögskolan, Örebro University

• Hotel: Pre-reserved rooms are kept until July 15 and August 20, 2019

Horizon 2020 workshop

4 September, 2019 (10 am to 5 pm) @ Stockholm university

Högbomsalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 12

Directions can be found here

In autumn, EU will officially publish the last round of calls within the H2020 framework. Despite being confidential, preliminary (but quite fixed) versions of the call texts are circulating, and there is one of great interest to our research fields, namely SC1-BHC-36-2020: Micro- and nano-plastics in our environment: Understanding exposures and impacts on human health. The budget allocated for this call allows for about 4-5 project, supposedly covering different aspects named in the call (e.g. “toxicology and uptake of micro- and/or nano-plastics and additives/adsorbed contaminants” or “effects and transport of micro- and/or nano-plastics across biological barriers”). The call will be launched in autumn 2019, and it is thus high time to start discussing ideas and forming working groups to prepare competitive applications when it is out. We have planned a workshop for this, similar to the one we had 2 years ago in Stockholm where we formed 4 consortia for the EDC call with complementary application, which were all successful.

We would like to invite you to a similar workshop on the 4th of September at Stockholm University which is easily accessible from Stockholm central station. We are planning a one-day workshop (approx. 10am-5pm) with interested colleagues from Sweden and the rest of Europe. The aim of this workshop will be to form project ideas that suit the call and identify working groups that will elaborate on these ideas. Mark this date in your calendars; more detailed information including a link to the registration form will follow soon. Please distribute the invitation to others that you regard as potentially interested. 

Please note that Swaccs (Swedish Academic Consortium on Chemical Safety, the academic Swetox successor) will fund the workshop but you will have to pay for travel expenses yourself.

Please indicate your potential attendance by emailing: joelle.ruegg@ki.se so that we will get an idea on how many participants we can expect.