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Toxicology

Projects

Health
Emerging contaminants
From non-target screening to risk assessment

Non-target screening, bioassays and computer modelling can provide information about the structure, concentration and toxicity of unknown substances in water. Until now, these chemical, biological and computing methods have often been used…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
PARC: European partnership for the assessment of risks from chemicals

The EU-wide research and innovation programme PARC was established in order to improve the risk assessment and sustainability of chemicals. The PARC project will strengthen the scientific basis…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Big data – analysis and integration of chemical and toxicological data

Monitoring the water quality of drinking water is challenging due to the presence of complex mixtures of mostly unknown substances that vary in concentration and composition. Over the…

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Sustainability
Climate change and resilience
Effect-based monitoring of water quality in the circular economy

Freshwater from groundwater or surface water sources is becoming scarce in dry periods, driving a rise in interest in the use/re-use of rainwater and treated domestic and industrial…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Toxicology on Target

The domain of toxicological risk assessment is constantly evolving and it is essential to follow these developments closely. It has been noted that an adequate response to water quality issues requires the ongoing development of knowledge and…

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Enabling technologies
Hydroinformatics
Text mining for the early detection of relevant water pollutants

Long before substances are included in regulations and monitoring programmes, text sources such as reports, social media, press releases, regulatory agency websites or the scientific literature can provide…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Are PMOCs less toxic?

Persistent mobile organic compounds (PMOC) accumulate in the water cycle and are hardly removed during water treatment. For a long time, these substances have been under-researched but recent studies show that they are present in worrying concentrations.…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Nanoplastics in drinking water

It is becoming increasingly clear that plastic is everywhere. That has been demonstrated in numerous environmental compartments, including soil, sediment, surface water and air. Data about the presence of microplastic particles in surface water are sparse, and…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Water-soluble polymers – Eyes and ears for Chemical Safety 2019-2020

Water-soluble polymers are often neglected because they are not covered by the definition of microplastics and are not visible. As a result, very little is still known about…

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Health
Biological activity
VO Eyes and ears for Chemical Safety 2019-2020 (LDIR and biofilm)

The regrowth and biofilm formation of micro-organisms on pipe material and membranes lead to problems in drinking water systems. To combat biofilm formation, a knowledge of the dynamics…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Clearer picture of the formation of transformation products during drinking water treatment thanks to integrated strategies

During drinking water production, biotic and antibiotic processes can form transformation products (TP) from organic micropollutants (OMP). How these substances behave in water treatment and how toxic they…

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Enabling technologies
New materials and technologies
Improved prioritisation and fragmentation improve the identification of unknown substances with non-target screening

Non-target screening (NTS) is based on the combination of liquid chromatography in conjunction with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In addition, tailored data analysis, with target and suspect screening,…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Contribution to Toxicology Knowledge Impulse

We are making and using more and more substances in larger and larger quantities. Analyses by collaborating European ecologists and ecotoxicologists have shown that exposure to mixtures of chemicals is a limiting…

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Health
Biological activity
Trigger value data gaps I and II

There are a lot of advantages to testing water quality with in vitro bioassays but this technique can only be properly applied if the bioassay responses can be compared with ‘effect-based trigger values’ (EBT). This study determines…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
QSAR and read-across models for water quality

In silico models for predicting the toxicity of contaminants deliver added value for water-quality issues. The chemical structure of a contaminant and data about similar substances provide insight in the toxicological properties…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
VHP4Safety: Towards chemical safety assessment based on human data

Chemical safety assessment, designed to minimise the risks of chemical exposures to human health and the environment, has traditionally been based on animal testing. Many natural and man-made…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Bioassays for neuroactive substances in water

More and more substances are being found worldwide in surface water that may have adverse effects on the nervous system. Because about forty percent[1] of Dutch drinking water is made from infiltrated…

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Health
Biological activity
QSAR tools and bioassays for emerging contaminants and transformation products

For new, emerging contaminants in drinking water sources and for transformation products, there are sometimes very little or no data available on their possible adverse effects on human…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Toxicological risk assessment

The number of substances found in water is increasing all over the world. This is the result of a rise in the use of substances, but also of the increasing quality and precision of the measurement methods.…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Toxicity: effect-directed water-quality measurement

This project is part of the Water Quality Knowledge Impulse. More than 140,000 chemical compounds are produced, used and traded in Europe. And a portion of them end…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Big Data Epidemiology

The scientific literature reports on – sometimes contradictory – research results on the relationship between the quality of drinking water and public health. For example, the relationship between water hardness and the incidence of cardio-vascular disease, between…

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Experts

Elvio Amato PhD
Scientific researcher
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Elvio Amato PhD

Scientific researcher

Elvio Amato works as a scientific researcher in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. His current research activities focus on the monitoring, occurrence and behaviour of emerging contaminants in…

030-6069754

elvio.amato@kwrwater.nl

06-46950231

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Sanah Shaikh MSc
Scientific researcher, European Registered Toxicologist (ERT)
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Sanah Shaikh MSc

Scientific researcher, European Registered Toxicologist (ERT)

Sanah Majid Shaikh works as a scientific researcher and toxicologist in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. She has experience in scientific research on the toxicity of chemical mixtures.…

030-6069716

sanah.majid.shaikh@kwrwater.nl

06-15323938

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Renske Hoondert PhD
Scientific researcher Project manager
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Renske Hoondert PhD

Scientific researcher Project manager

Renske Hoondert works as a researcher and project manager in the Chemical Water Quality and Health group. She studied Biology at Radboud University in Nijmegen, after which in 2020 she…

030-6069709

renske.hoondert@kwrwater.nl

06-21692814

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Astrid Reus
Scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager
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Astrid Reus

Scientific researcher Project manager/Portfolio manager

Astrid Reus began working as a project manager and researcher in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team this year (2019). She has extensive experience in the safety assessment of…

030-6069703

astrid.reus@kwrwater.nl

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Tessa Pronk
Scientific researcher
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Tessa Pronk

Scientific researcher

Tessa Pronk is a scientific researcher in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. She has a broad interest in complex systems and, over the last few years, has worked…

030-6069681

tessa.pronk@kwrwater.nl

06-29337806

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Milou Dingemans PhD
Chief Science Officer / Principal Toxicologist, European Registered Toxicologist (ERT)
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Milou Dingemans PhD

Chief Science Officer / Principal Toxicologist, European Registered Toxicologist (ERT)

Milou Dingemans works as Chief Science Officer of KWR and as a researcher and toxicologist in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. She has over 15 years' experience in…

030-6069505

milou.dingemans@kwrwater.nl

06-21997524

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Stefan Kools PhD
Manager Scientific researcher
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Stefan Kools PhD

Manager Scientific researcher

Stefan Kools works at KWR as a researcher and team leader. He has more than 20 years' experience in the water sector, both as a scientific researcher and ecotoxicology advisor.…

030-6069539

stefan.kools@kwrwater.nl

06-46818786

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All experts ()

News

News

More MOMENTUM for research into micro- and nanoplastics

05 April 2024 — The research on micro- and nanoplastics continues in MOMENTUM 2.0 and breakthrough projects. KWR contributes on various fronts,…

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Blog

Exploring the Frontiers of Environmental Science

07 June 2023 — Five researchers from the Chemical Water Quality & Health team visited the 2023 edition of the SETAC Europe…

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News

KWR participates in new European PARC project

31 May 2022 — Knowledge from the PARC project will help in carrying out chemical risk assessments and shaping substances policy.

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News

Predicting the potential hazard of contaminants

14 April 2022 — KWR gebruikt in silico-tools om de schadelijkheid van stoffen te voorspellen. Deze tools werken sneller en zijn kostenefficiënter…

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News

KWR and Utrecht University jointly assist British WRc in quality assurance for Toxicity Datasheets

15 February 2022 — Toxicologists from Utrecht University and KWR collaborate on assessing the quality of toxicological data and risk assessment. They…

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Blog

Microplastics and human health research in the Netherlands – Symposium MOMENTUM

16 November 2021 — Micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) can be found nearly everywhere; in the air we breathe, in food and…

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News

Do microplastics have an effect on our bodies?

07 June 2021 — Working with other research institutes and business, KWR is moving ahead with a three-year study of micro- and…

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News

Successful application of umu test in KWR laboratories

10 June 2020 — KWR disposes of advanced laboratories for research into the quality of drinking water and drinking water sources. Our…

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Blog

Are PMOCs less toxic?

24 February 2020 — On 21 and 22 January, Thomas and Astrid participated in the workshop on ‘Persistent, Mobile and Toxic (PMT) substances:…

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Blog

Innovative tools on health risk assessment

26 September 2019 — During the 55th annual congress of the European Societies of Toxicology EUROTOX 2019 in Helsinki, toxicologists from all…

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Blog

Staying tuned with incidents involving hazardous components

02 July 2018 — An annually recurring conference on incidents involving hazardous components, organised by the Dutch fire brigade, the National public…

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News

Health relevance of contaminants of emerging concern in drinking water

19 June 2018 — New substances are being constantly produced and used, and also ending up in the groundwater and surface water…

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Blog

Airborne dispersal of Cyanobacteria

01 February 2018 — Scientists from Michigan State University have investigated whether harmful algae and associated compounds can be present in aerosols.…

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Blog

19th annual CEFIC-LRI workshop

27 November 2017 — Every year the European Chemical Industry Council organizes the CEFIC-LRI workshop. This year, I visited the 19th edition…

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News

GenX report: drinking water in the Netherlands is safe

22 November 2017 — RIVM and KWR have produced a report in response to the presence of GenX in drinking water…

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Blog

Symposium Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

13 November 2017 — On October 27, the network for environmental professionals VVM organized the symposium ‘Green Pharmacy’ on pharmaceuticals in the…

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