nanoIndEx will determine personal exposure to MNMs and thoroughly investigate the possibilities of personal monitors and samplers. Those samplers and monitors, identified as suitable for assessing personal exposure to MNMs will be scrutinized in laboratory and field studies to study their accuracy and the comparability of the different samplers and monitors and to search for possible correlations between metrics. All samplers and monitors that qualified during the lab-studies will be used in field studies in at least ten different nanotechnology workplaces. These field surveys will provide information on the field applicability and comparability of the instruments and generate a large data set on personal exposure to MNMs that will be provided to existing exposure databases. The experiences from the laboratory and field studies will feed into standard operation procedures and guidance documents on the proper use of the monitors and samplers and for data evaluation. All these documents will be made publicly available and distributed to stakeholders as well as national and international harmonization and standardization activities.

GBS (Streptococcus agalactiae) is a Gram-positive encapsulated commensal bacterium of the human intestinal flora which is also present in the vaginal flora of 30% of healthy women. However, when neonates are infected through their mother during delivery, it can turn into a highly pathogenic bacterium, being the leading cause of neonatal septicaemia, meningitis, and pneumonia in the industrialized world. Early onset (EOD) and late onset (LOD) diseases are defined in neonates by their occurring within or after the first week of life, respectively. Previous molecular epidemiological studies including ours have identified a capsular serotype III clone, referred to as CC-17 by Multi Locus Sequence Typing, as accounting for the vast majority of neonatal invasive diseases and for almost all cases of meningitis in LOD. Our working hypothesis is that host-environmental interactions may contribute to the colonization and persistence of the hypervirulent CC-17 GBS in the neonate. In this project, four teams from the APHP, Institut Pasteur Paris, Institut Pasteur Lille, and INRA will combine their complementary expertises to determine if reciprocal interactions between the intestinal microbiota and the innate and adaptive immune system may specifically facilitate the colonization of the neonate by the hypervirulent GBS CC-17 clone.

Severe shortage in good quality water reserves is a global problem that will increase with a growing world population. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) will contribute to replenish depleted aquifers and restore ecological services in fresh water ecosystems. However, risks associated to the occurrence of pathogens and anthropogenic emerging pollutants in groundwater have led to question the reuse of reclaimed water for MAR. MARadentro aims to assess and minimize these risks, and to increase the benefits of MAR guaranteeing human health and environment protection through the development of affordable and effective permeable reactive layers. These integrate biotic and abiotic processes to enhance pathogen retention and inactivation and pollutant adsorption and degradation by making available a broad range of sorption sites and a sequence of redox states. The applicability of the proposed MAR layers will be validated by upscaling from lab and pilot experiments to field scale studies. Transport modelling, risk assessment, economic balance and establishment of recommendations to stakeholders and authorities in the water sector will guarantee the smooth implementation of this MAR concept and the positive public response to water reuse. The transfer of the knowledge gathered in MARadentro to policy makers will help in EU regulation on MAR.