Chemistry and Biology

Chemistry and Biology (C&B) is at the frontier in European research projects. The FP7 projects  Obelix,and ENFIRO, are being coordinated by our department (Dr. Leonards for ENFIRO and Dr. Legler for OBELIX).
From 1 January 2012 the FP& project DENAMIC, also coordinated by Dr. Leonards will start.

ENFIRO focuses on alternatives for brominated flame retardants that are efficient in reducing flammability of materials, feasible to produce and safe for the environment.  In the project Obelix it is hypothesized that prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in food is associated with the development of obesity and related disorders later in life. In animal models, in utero exposure to EDCs may lead to dose-related effects on obesity development, by altered epigenetic programming in target tissues involved in energy homeostasis and appetite regulation. DENAMIC will study neurotoxic effects of pesticides.

In addition IVM’s C&B department participates in the FP7 projects PERFOOD (on perfluorinated compounds in food), on PHARMAS (on pharmaceuticals), and the EU Marie-Curie INFLAME project (on flame retardants in dust).

Many projects are carried out for other organizations such as training programs on POP analysis for UNEP, the FES nano project on effects of nanoparticles in the environment, and DIPOL, an European INTERREG project on communication on effects of climate change on contamination in harbors and rivers.

IVM has always been heavily involved in interlaboratory studies, in particular for the QUASIMEME program (www.quasimeme.org). Interesting new interlaboratory studies are currently those on chlorinated paraffins and perfluorinated compounds. A new study on phosphorus flame retardants is planned under the NORMAN program.