What is the relationship between chemicals and environmental and human stressors, such as climate change and biodiversity loss? What will the impact be on ecosystem services, both now and in the future?

Background

We need to understand the risks associated with the chemicals we use as well as their impacts on the environment, and the role of government and others to prevent harm, in line with the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan:

Next steps

Get in touch with ari.comment@go-science.gov.uk

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

DEFRA Research and innovation interests GOVUK

Related UKRI funded projects

  • SYBERAC Towards a SYstems-Based, holistic Environmental Risk Assessment of Chemicals

    TOWARDS A SYSTEM BASED, HOLISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICALS (SYBERAC) Biodiversity is key to modern society, sustaining natural resources and providing essential ecosystem services. According to the UN Su...

    Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee

    Lead research organisation: UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY

    Why might this be relevant?

    Addresses the relationship between chemicals and environmental stressors, focusing on biodiversity loss and ecosystem services.

  • Classic and temporal mixture synergism in terrestrial ecosystems: Prevalence, mechanisms and impacts

    Invertebrate species living above and below ground are central to terrestrial food webs and key contributors to carbon cycling, soil fertility and pest control. Many of these important species are highly vulnerable to ch...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY & HYDROLOGY

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to gain knowledge about the relationship between chemicals and environmental stressors, and has identified chemical mixtures that show synergy and higher toxicity to invertebrates.

  • Precision Environmental Health

    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 regulator...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: University of Birmingham

    Why might this be relevant?

    Proposes a framework for assessing the health hazards posed by environmental chemical mixtures, addressing the impact on humans and wildlife.

  • Mitigating the risk of micropollutants in the environment

    The vision of this research is to achieve a chemical safe world where the benefits of modern products and processes can be enjoyed by all without undue detriment to the planetary ecosystem on which all life depends. It a...

    Funded by: EPSRC

    Lead research organisation: Newcastle University

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to mitigate the risk of micropollutants in the environment, which is related to the question, but does not specifically address the relationship between chemicals and environmental and human stressors.

  • NEC06550 Does the discharge of chemicals to the environment harm wildlife populations?

    Traditional chemical risk assessment relies on undertaking laboratory ecotoxicity studies, but can only assume what the population or ecosystem functioning consequences might be. We aim to move beyond these current limit...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY & HYDROLOGY

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to identify which populations and environments are affected by chemical exposure, but does not specifically address the relationship between chemicals and environmental and human stressors.

  • A Novel Framework for Predicting Emerging Chemical Stressor Impacts in Complex Ecosystems

    Freshwater ecosystems provide critical ecosystem services that underpin human societies and wellbeing: including water purification, carbon capture, and the maintenance of sustainable fisheries. However, these ecosystems...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: University of Essex

  • Soil, health and environment network

    The aim of SHE-Net is to improve our estimates of human exposure to toxic organic chemicals in soil through the consumption of home grown and allotment produce and consequently improve the protection of public health. Th...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: University of Reading

  • Leveraging comparative physiology and genomics to predict species sensitivity: A novel framework for interspecies extrapolation in ecotoxicology

    The idiom of a 'miner's canary' A miner holds a canary as an alert for toxic gas; from experience he knows that the canary will stop singing before the gas causes lasting harm. The idiom of a 'miner's canary' is used thr...

    Funded by: NERC

    Lead research organisation: NERC CEH (Up to 30.11.2019)

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project addresses interspecies extrapolation in ecotoxicology, which is related to the impact of chemicals on different organisms.

  • Exploring Mayflies and Bats: Assessing the Risk to Chemicals (EMBARC)

    Food security is critical to the effective functioning of human society and plant protection products (PPPs) such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, play a vital role supporting this endeavour by maintaining cro...

    Funded by: FLF

    Lead research organisation: Enviresearch (United Kingdom)

  • VALESOR: VALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS

    VALESOR aims to make major contributions to the scientific and policy efforts to accommodate economic values of environmental stressors more homogenously in policy making, planning. The environmental stressors of concern...

    Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee

    Lead research organisation: DR MICHAEL HOLLAND

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