Van Vluchtige Organische Stoffen tot de huid: Inzichten uit werkplek-blootstellingsstudies

This PhD is part of the EXIMIOUS H2020 Human exposome project. The overall objective is to bring a new way of assessing the human exposome by combining innovative ways of characterizing and quantifying multiple environmental exposures (exposomics) and mapping exposure-induced immune effects (immunomics). In both healthy exposed workers cohorts (to solvents, silica particles and biological sensitizers) and in occupational disease cohorts (sarcoidosis, sclerosis, etc.), we will identify and quantify previous and/or current exposure to specific chemical, biological and physical agents based on modelling (job exposure matrix/environment) or environmental measurements. The exposure assessment plan will be built using the available methods, standards and any new and/or more advanced techniques developed for determination of individual agents. For chemical agents, measurement methods will be used to determine exposure via inhalation and skin. When specific metabolite determination is possible, biomonitoring methods are used to evaluate all exposure routes. All methods will be applied for both occupational and everyday environmental exposure (indoor and outdoor). In a second phase we will correlate data from the immunome analysis of blood and sputum collections in the workers and occupational disease cohorts to the exosome determined by modelling and/or measuring in order to determine the contribution of noxious exposure to the development of disease.