Collaborations and Projects 

Collaborations

  • SaxoChiLD is a designated partner of the German Center for Child and Youth Health (DZKJ)

  • NORMAN Association is a self-sustaining network of reference laboratories, research centers and related organizations for the monitoring and biomonitoring of emerging environmental substances.

  • Beate Escher is honorary professor at the University of Queensland with main collaboration through the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences Prof Beate Escher at The University of Queensland

Facilities

We provide bioanalytical expertise with our facility CITEPro.

Current projects

  • Sinergia: Developing high-throughput experimental and computational tools for safe-by-design chemicals – Proof of principle for antioxidants - This interdisciplinary project at the interface between chemistry, computer science, the environment and health develops methods to take harmlessness to humans and the environment into account from the very beginning in the development of new chemical products. Using the example of antioxidants, which can be found as additives in many products such as food packaging, car tires or plastic objects, we will test the new methods and – if successful – be able to propose innovative, more environmentally friendly antioxidants. In detail, we will develop high-throughput test methods to test persistence (i.e., lack of degradability) and toxicity to humans and the environment quickly and for a large number of chemicals. We will apply the methods to existing antioxidants and other chemicals, and use the data obtained in this way to develop, in combination with advanced machine learning techniques, computational models that allow the prediction of persistence and toxicity for untested chemicals.    
  • Zelltox contributes to the project HABBAL (Assessment of the effect of the spread of harmful algal blooms of the species Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax on biodiversity and human health) coordinated by the AWI in the work package on human risk by testing the neurotoxicity and skin sensitisation of extracts and standards of harmful algal blooms and in the fish toxicology work package, where we work on toxicity toward fish gill cells, which is preparatory work for in vivo fish toxicity experiments.
  • Co-Creation process for the modernization of chemical hazard indicators - CoModHaz
    The assessment of chemical hazards is essential for the safe management of chemicals, as outlined in the "European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability". Helmholtz researchers have proposed two new hazard indicators that go beyond the traditional assessment of persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity (PBT). These two new indicators, called Cumulative Toxicity Equivalents (CTE) and Persistent Toxicity Equivalents (PTE), will be tested as part of the CoModHaz project. The project comprises case studies developed in cooperation with authorities, NGOs and industry and focuses on chemicals that are difficult to assess. The UFZ research platform CITEPro will be used for high-throughput bioassays. The project aims to validate the new indicators in practice and remove barriers to their implementation. This should ultimately contribute to safer and more sustainable chemical assessments.
  • ENDOMIX is dedicated to uncovering theimpact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and mixtures on human health, bridging gaps between science and policy to inform regulations and protect vulnerable populations. Employing an interdisciplinary strategy, ENDOMIX investigates the complex interactions of EDCs with the immune system, aiming to deliver new knowledge and recommendations for minimizing exposure and preventing adverse health effects. By focusing on real-life EDC mixtures, vulnerable life stages, and advanced research methodologies, ENDOMIX aims to revolutionise our understanding of immunotoxicity and its implications for human health outcomes. We lead WP2 on developing and testing realistic mixtures as they occur in humans and subsequently identifying specific EDC mixtures of concern. 
  • QTOX We are members of the Doctoral Network QTOX Quantitative Extrapolation in Ecotoxicology (EU-funded project). QTOX will develop mechanistic knowledge and data-efficient modelling tools to bridge the gap between standard toxicity data and ecologically relevant endpoints arising from chronic, time variable exposures to chemical mixtures. The results will be achieved through an interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training program in which 10 doctoral candidates will characterise the mechanistic processes describing the successive events from exposure to ecosystem-level effects and develop models for extrapolation of adverse effects across levels of biological organization under environmentally realistic conditions. Our contribution is in In-vitro to in-vivo extrapolations in ecotoxicology.
  • PANORAMIX This European Union funded project’s goal is to provide new tools for risk assessment of complex real-life mixtures. It focuses on substances present in water, food and the human body. Eleven European partners work together to develop a novel scientific framework to understand and quantify the risk of chemical mixture exposure and thus provide a basis for new regulations to better protect human health and the environment.

  • PrecisionTox The objective of this European Union funded project is to improve chemical safety assessment by replacing animal testing with non-traditional test species, determine safe levels of exposure and collaborate with regulators and other stakeholders to incorporate Precision Toxicology in policy and law.

  • NC3R CRACK IT challenge 36: Animal-free in vitro The Phase 2 of the Crack IT challenge is combining scientific, commercial and regulatory expertise. This 3 year project sponsored by AstraZeneca and Unilever aims to develop animal product-free adaptations of the in vitro OECD test guidelines TG487 and TG455 to improve human-relevant responses and reproducibility. The interdisciplinary consortium is led by ImmuOne, a British biotech company, and comprises, in addition to the UFZ, partners such as PAN Biotech, the University of Oxford and Goethe University Frankfurt. Our role in the project is the characterization and validation of the metabolic activity of the S9 alternative and the participation in the interlaboratory validation.

  • Effect-based Monitoring in Water Safety Planning in collaboration with the Global Water Research Coalition

Current projects within the UFZ

Completed projects

  • SynCom Project A science-society dialogue for modernizing chemical hazard assessment