Tools & Methods

SCENARIOS is a 4-year H2020 Research and Innovation project (RIA) involving 19 partners from 10 European countries and Israel. The goal is to close the knowledge gap and achieve breakthrough TRL advances in the toxicology, detection and remediation of probably the most objectionable and widespread class of contaminants -PFAS-, with an unprecedented energetic balance and virtually no external chemical additives. SCENARIOS provides a complete set of sustainable solutions to protect human health, the environment, and natural resources from persistent and mobile chemicals, and PFAS. Environmental contaminant exposure significantly contributes to the development of diseases such as cancer, vascular, neurodegenerative illness, inflammatory diseases, allergies, and immune system disorders, which constitute the main health burden in economically developed countries.

Technologies

SCENARIOS will use a crosstoxicological approach that includes the study of human and environmental safety by using molecular systems biology, toxicogenomics and phenotypic screening, supported by bioinformatics and cheminformatics.

Objectives

In order to develop, use and demonstrate such an integrated set of solutions, the following specific objectives have been identified:

• Smart detection of PFAS: Implementing a fast, low-cost and accurate determination of PFAS to allow inexpensive widescale measurement and (bio)monitoring of PFAS congeners in any environmental and biological sample.
• Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) for PFAS: Expanding the ERA framework of non-regulated PFAS and congener mixtures on a long-term scale, implementing a specific class of IATA for PFAS.
• Innovation for PFAS remediation. Development and implementation of an integrated engineering and biological remediation strategy for cleaning PFAS-contaminated environmental compartments, so as to eventually improve their potential ecosystem service (e.g., soil biodiversity for soil fertility).

Impacts

• SCENARIOS aims to devise and demonstrate a comprehensive set of technological solutions to address the detection, (bio)monitoring, long-term toxicity, risk assessment, pollution control and remediation of Per- and polyFluoroAlkyl Substances (PFASs) as a test bed for zero pollution ambition from refractory and mobile organic chemicals.
• SCENARIOS’s approach and technologies will be self-sustainable, (near) net-zero energy and will smoothly integrate in the circular economy concept of EU countries and worldwide.