News
Dr. Joaquim Rovira has been invited as a speaker at the conference entitled Micro- and nanoplastics pollution: putting an eye on the Mediterranean area, organized by the Aquaculture Section of the Catalan Society of Biology. The aim of this conference is to create a link between the entire Catalan scientific community which, from a very broad perspective, works on the effects of micro- and nanoplastic pollution on the ecosystems and trophic chains, as well as on the human health.
The conference will take place in 21-22 July 2022 (9h-14h), at the Pere i Joan Coromines Room of Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC). More information can be found at https://scb.iec.cat/jornades-daquicultura/, while registrations can be made at https://www.iec.cat/jornades/nanoplastic2022.asp
On the 21st of July, at the end of the day, there will be a trip to visit CRAM, the Foundation for the Conservation and Recovery of Animals, which has several projects focused on microplastics. Attention! The attendance is reserved to max. 25 people. Hurry up!
Dr. Roberta Carafa, former postdoctoral reseacher of TecnATox, was awarded in the First Edition of the Awards for the Best Invention Protected by Industrial Property Rights, organized by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas, OEPM). The ceremony was chaired by the Spanish Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Ms. María Reyes Maroto, and took place in the gardens of the School of Industrial Organization, Madrid.
Dr. Carafa received her recognition as a mention in the Utility Model category, as a result of the development of a sampling device to analyze micro and nanoplastic in oceans and rivers, of potential application in environmental management of water quality. The authors of the model are Dr. Roberta Carafa -who has received the award- together with Dr. Jordi Sierra, Dr. Jaume Folch and Nora Expósito, all of them supervised by Prof. Marta Schuhmacher.
The device was developed in the framework of the projects TOXMIC, which was funded by ACCIÓ under the TecnioSpring PLUS program (TECSPR17-1-0012, 2018-2020), and INSPECTION (2019PROD00113), financed by AGAUR and FEDER (EMC/1434/2019, 2020-2022).
Last Tuesday, Dr. Montse Marquès was interviewed by Aina Mallol at SOM-HI TV program, broadcasted by TAC12, the public television of Camp de Tarragona. Dr. Marquès talked about her participation in the project PETRO-FERTYL (Impacte del complex petroquímic de Tarragona en l’exposició a metalls i la infertilitat masculina). PETRO-FERTYL, which is perfomed in the framework of LED-FERTYL, recently received the Xavi Catà Grant, promoted by El Morell City Council.
The interview is here available, being initiated at 19:15 min.
In 15-19 May 2022, several researchers of TecnaTox attended the SETAC Europe 32nd Annual Meeting, which was held in the city of Cophenhagen, Denmark. The conference was a nice opportunity for all them to meet other scientists working on environmental health and start new collaborations. In addition to the scientific work, researchers could also enjoy the beauty of the city, including a visit to The Little Mermaid.
The full list of presentations is here detailed:
Indoor Concentrations of Flame-Retardants in Spanish Environments: A Multimedia Modelling Approach Joaquim Rovira, Roser Esplugas, Vikas Kumar, Montse Mari, José L. Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher.
Can Microplastics in Molluscs to Have a Potential Risks for Human Health of Catalonia Coast Habitants? Nora Expósito Lorenzo, Joaquim Rovira, Jordi Sierra, Gemma Giménez, José Luis Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher.
In Vitro Neurotoxic Effects of Emerging Flame Retardants at Non-Cytotoxic Concentrations on Neuroblastoma Cells Roser Esplugas, Victòria Linares, Montserrat Bellés, José L. Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher.
Is There Any Potential Role of Essential and Toxic Trace Elements on COVID-19 Infection? An Observational Study in Catalonia (Spain) Montse Marquès, Noemí Serra, Simona Iftimie, Jordi Camps, Jorge Joven and José L. Domingo.
Evaluation of Aromatic Amines Levels in Textile Products From Spain and Brazil Marilia Souza, Nieves González, Marta Herrero, Montse Marquès, Martí Nadal, Fernando Barbosa Junior and José L. Domingo.
Is There Any Potential Role of Endocrine Disruptors on the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus? A Pilot Study of INSULIN Cohort (Catalonia, Spain) Montse Marquès, Pablo Gago Ferrero, Elena Sánchez-Resino, Rubén Gil-Solsona, Daniel Gutiérrez-Martín, Núria Taltavull, Montserrat Ingles, Miriam Romeu, Ana Megía, Adrian Covaci and José L. Domingo.
Breastfeeding Infants' Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors and Neurotoxic Substances: Earlyfood Study Joaquim Rovira, María Ángeles Martínez, Nora Exposito Lorenzo, Montse Mari, Sara Cunha, Jose Fernandes, Antonio Marques, Isa Marmelo, Martí Nadal1, José L. Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher.
Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model (PBPK) for Three Flame Retardants -TDClPP, TClPP, Tcep- in Animals and Extrapolation to Humans for Risk Assessment Deepika Deepika, Vikas Kumar, José L. Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher.Early-Life Exposure to Formaldehyde Through Textile Materials Marta Herrero, Nieves González, Joaquim Rovira, Montse Marquès, Martí Nadal and José L. Domingo.
TecnATox will be involved in a new European project to urge governments to strengthen the regulation of chemicals, under the initiative European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC).
Chemistry is present in our daily lives through food, packaging, electronics, clothing, etc., but also through the air we breathe. To ensure that these products are safe for health and the environment, TecnATox will be participating in the PARC project, urging governments to improve their safety regulation. PARC, which will last seven years and is coordinated by the Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (ANSES), brings together nearly 200 institutions from 45 key countries in the field of research throughout Europe. The partnership will build on work undertaken as part of the European Joint Programme on human biomonitoring, HBM4EU (Human Biomonitoring for Europe), which will come to an end in the summer of 2022, and will broaden the scope of its of interests specifically to the assessment of environmental risks.
In Spain, TecnATox participates in the study as an affiliate partner of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), with Dr. Vikas Kumar acting as coordinator of the project within Tecnatox.
SEEDS-“Substance of circular Economy concept as Efficacious Determinant for the development of Successful entrepreneurship”, a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, has released the third newsletter.
We invite you to read it in Spanish or English by clicking on this news.
On 5th and 6th of May, a Transnational Project Meeting of the SEEDS project took place in Vienna. The SEEDS project (agreement number 2020-1-ES01-KA202-08313) is co-Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme and coordinated by URV (TecnATox). The project aims to strengthen professional development of start-uppers, young entrepreneurs and VET trainers through adoption or improving knowledge and skills in the field of implication Circular Economy to modern Entrepreneurship reality.
Dr. Jaume Folch and Dr. Joaquim Rovira were the representatives of TecnATox at the Good Karma Day event, which took place in April 30th at La Pineda beach (Vila-seca). Dr. Folch talked about his book "Lar mar de Tarragona", while Dr. Rovira presented the results of the study on microplastics on Tarragona coast.
More information about Good Karma Project can be found at https://goodkarmaprojects.org/?lang=en.
The Erasmus + Project “DISCERN-A customised Digital Space to Foster Circular Economy Entrepreneurship with SMEs” has released the first newsletter. We invite you to read it by clicking on this news.
