Precision Environmental Health

大量的化学品来自工业过程、农业径流和生活垃圾。这些化学物质通过各种途径以复杂的混合物形式在环境中积累。目前的监管框架主要针对个别化学品，往往忽视了这些混合物的潜在影响。然而，有证据表明，即使这些混合物的含量低于管制阈值，也会对人类和野生动物产生严重的不利影响。有一个迫切需要一个全面的方法来评估这些环境化学混合物（ECMs）所造成的健康危害，以有效地应对这一挑战，我提出了一个框架，称为精确环境健康（PEH），作为解决的挑战ECMs的危害评估。PEH方法是一种三层方法，使用一组化学敏感的无脊椎动物（水蚤）来测试ECM的效果。第一层涉及生物分子分析和化学指纹，以提供环境ECM暴露的概述。其次，通过对水蚤生物分子谱的比较分析，确定对健康危害较大的ECM。在第三层，人工智能算法可以精确定位对健康产生不利影响的化学成分，建议优先考虑危险化学品进行监管和缓解。由于响应ECM的代谢机制可能是野生动物和人类在进化和功能保护方面共享的，水蚤的生物分子信号可以提示健康危害，甚至是人类共享的。因此，PEH是有前途的，在解决的挑战，保护人类和野生动物免受ECM的影响。作为一个概念性的框架，PEH必须在现实世界的情况下进行测试，以证明其实用性和可靠性。然而，满足监管要求并获得利益相关者的投入和反馈至关重要。作为伯明翰大学（UoB）环境研究与司法中心（CERJ）的研究员将为我提供一个独特的机会-与来自生物科学和法学院的多学科研究人员合作，通过精密毒理学（PT）项目与利益相关者咨询小组会面并获得宝贵的专家建议，并参与了包括中国在内的13个国家的50个组织的环境保护联盟。通过与利益相关者的知识交流，为我改善和促进PEH搭建了舞台！因此，我正在申请这项奖学金，以建立、验证和推广PEH --下一代化学危害评估的框架。我将通过将PEH应用于三个案例研究来建立框架，以评估和证明这个框架的有效性和鲁棒性。然后，我将通过来自不同背景网络（包括学术界和监管机构）的专家意见来改进框架，以验证和证实其在监管ECM问题中的作用。最后，我将与环境法专家合作，确定改革英国环境化学污染监管实践的机会，从而启动科学政策宣传。通过实现这些目标，我将更接近我的最终目标，即加强化学品危害评估和保障人类和环境健康。

A significant quantity of chemicals originates from industrial processes, agricultural runoff, and domestic waste. These chemicals, via various routes, accumulate in the environment as complex mixtures. Current regulatory frameworks primarily target individual chemicals, often overlooking the potential effects of these mixtures. Yet, evidence has shown that such mixtures can induce severe adverse effects on humans and wildlife, even when present at levels below regulatory thresholds. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to assessing the health hazards posed by these environmental chemical mixtures (ECMs) to effectively address this challenge.I propose a framework, called Precision Environmental Health (PEH), as a solution to the challenge of hazard assessment of ECMs. The PEH approach is a three-tiered approach that uses a group of chemical-sensitive invertebrates (Daphnia) to test the effects of ECM. The first tier involves biomolecular profiling and chemical fingerprinting to offer an overview of environmental ECM exposure. Secondly, ECM of higher health hazards will be identified with the comparative analysis of biomolecular profiles of daphnids. In the third tier, artificial intelligence algorithms can pinpoint the chemical components contributing to adverse health effects, suggesting prioritising hazardous chemicals for regulation and mitigation. As the metabolic mechanism responding to ECMs may be shared by wildlife and human regarding evolutionary and functional conservation, biomolecular signals of Daphnia can suggest health hazards, even shared by humans. Hence PEH is promising in addressing the challenges of protecting humans and wildlife from the impact of ECMs.Being a conceptual framework, PEH must be tested in real-world scenarios to demonstrate its practicality and reliability. However, meeting regulatory requirements and obtaining stakeholder input and feedback is crucial. Being a research fellow based at the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ) of the University of Birmingham (UoB) will offer me a unique opportunity - working with multi-disciplinary researchers from biosciences and law school, meeting and receiving valuable expert advice from Stakeholder Advisory Group through Precision Toxicology (PT) project, and engaging in the UoB-based Environment Care Consortium of 50 organizations across 13 countries, including China. The stage is set for me to improve and promote the PEH through knowledge exchange with stakeholders!Thus, I am applying for this fellowship for establishing, validating, and promoting PEH - a framework for next-generation chemical hazard assessment. I will establish the framework by applying PEH to three case studies, to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of this framework. Then, I will improve the framework with expert input from a network of diverse backgrounds, including academia and regulators, to verify and substantiate its role in regulating ECM problems. Lastly, I will work with experts in environmental law to identify opportunities for reforming the regulatory practices of environmental chemical pollution in the UK, allowing initiating science-to-policy advocacy. By achieving these objectives, I will be one step closer to my ultimate goal of enhancing chemical hazard assessment and safeguarding human and environmental health.