Applied exposome programme: exposures interacting with our health
Our health is impacted by the environment in which we grow up, live, work, enjoy sport, sleep and relax. The combination of exposures over our lifetime strongly influences the risk of the development of disease. This has given rise to the concept “exposome”; the totality of exposures people experience during their lifetime and how their bodies respond to them.
Read more about the Exposome and our programme
TNO is working together with partners on technology and methods to monitor and interpret these exposures, relate them to health effects and to develop effective methods of prevention.
The promising potential of the exposome
Many common disorders are closely linked to exposures that range from lifestyle factors to chemical exposures, social interactions and stress. Collectively, these exposures have a huge impact on health in society. Many exposures can potentially be modified to prevent disease. Unfortunately, we often can’t explain why one person will develop a certain disease while another won’t, due to the complex interrelation between exposures and effects.
The exposome concept can help bridge this gap in knowledge. This will provide important information that can form the basis of prevention, for example: why one person becomes ill and another doesn’t under the same circumstances, how different exposures combined may lead to effects on health, and what the early signs of the negative effects of exposures are.
Exposome and working life health
Since people spend a large part of their lives at work, occupational exposure is an important factor. Exposures at work often are higher and more complex than generally outdoors or in home environments, and working is closely related to lifestyle and behaviour (e.g. diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption) and socio-economic status. We apply the exposome concept to occupational exposures in order to develop evidence-based and effective preventive measures that enhance workplace health:
- Sensors and sensor-based methods for obtaining personal exposure profiles throughout the working day, providing better insights into who is exposed, where a person is during higher exposures and what the reasons for this exposure are. Read more: virtual occupational hygiene assistant;
- Innovation of other internal and external exposure assessment techniques such as a point of care assay for biomarkers of benzene in urine or passive sampling devices.
- Combining data mining methods with internal exposure and exposure-response modelling in order to obtain mechanistic insights that will help identify early markers of disease, exposures with similar health effects or insights on vulnerability. In addition, these techniques can contribute to innovation of risk assessment methods.
- Lastly, TNO coordinates the EU EPHOR project in which a large consortium of EU partners develops and applies methods and tools to characterize the working-life exposome in order to obtain better and more complete knowledge on the working-life exposome. The developed methods and knowledge will be made available to scientists, occupational health practitioners and policy makers in a toolbox. Read more about the project.
Exposome and urabn health
Everybody is exposed to urban exposures such as air pollution, noise and heat during their life. We therefore develop methods to better characterize exposures in an urban environment by combining sensors with high resolution environmental modelling:
- In the Eindhoven Area, TNO is mapping air quality on an individual level by setting up large-scale sensor networks together with industry, public authorities, citizens and knowledge institutes. Read more about measuring air quality.
- Within the Precisie geneeskunde voor meer zuurstof (P4O2) consortium led by AMC, TNO in collaboration with a company that has developed a COPD health management tool will develop a methodology for assessing indoor air quality exposure in COPD patients which will be incorporated in the health management tool for more optimal prevention of attacks.
That is why we develop models and biomarkers to characterise the internal exposome (doorlink pagina). In addition, we further develop and apply exposome methods, e.g. sensors, passive sampling, data mining, and (non-invasive) biomonitoring methods in large groups of workers, in the EU EPHOR project that we coordinate.
Immune Exposome
Between 15 and 20% of the people in the western world suffer from inflammatory diseases. Inflammatory processes also play a central role in many other disorders. The functioning of the immune system is driven by inflammatory balances. These balances depend on a complex interplay between intrinsic (host) and extrinsic (chemical and microbial) factors. At TNO we investigate the key extrinsic factors involved and the mechanisms and interactions through which these interact with our immune system, which is crucial for the development of safe and effective interventions and management practices for allergic and inflammatory diseases. Read more about allergic and inflammatory diseases.
Join us
Thanks to our multidisciplinary nature and our in-house experts ranging from sensor developers to exposure scientists and from systems biologists to behavioural scientists, we are able to unravel the exposome.
Together with partners from industry and research, we work in partnerships that are essential for taking this field further, towards applications. We have strategic partnerships with the NIOSH in the US and HSE in the UK and with the Utrecht Exposome Hub on exposome research. If you would like to know more about our exposome activities or collaborate with us, please get in touch.
Learn more about our exposome activities and business opportunities
Get in touch with Anjoeka Pronk
Publications
- Personal exposure to UFP in different micro-environments and time of day
- Comparison of Methods for Converting Dylos Particle Number Concentrations to PM2.5 Mass Concentrations
- Calibration of polydimethylsiloxane and polyurethane foam passive air samplers for measuring semi volatile organic compounds using a novel exposure chamber design
- Biomarkers of exposure in environment-wide association studies – Opportunities to decode the exposome using human biomonitoring data
- How Sensors Might Help Define the External Exposome
- Future Prospects of Occupational Exposure Modelling of Substances in the Context of Time-Resolved Sensor Data
- Exposome-based public health interventions for infectious diseases in urban settings
- Ethics and Privacy Considerations Before Deploying Sensor Technologies for Exposure Assessment in the Workplace
- A Quantitative Meta-Analysis of the Relation between Occupational Benzene Exposure and Biomarkers of Cytogenetic Damage | TU Delft Repositories
- Exploring Evaluation Variables for Low-Cost Particulate Matter Monitors to Assess Occupational Exposure | TU Delft Repositories
- Human biomonitoring in health risk assessment in Europe: Current practices and recommendations for the future | TNO Publications
EXPOSOME: connecting the dots for effective prevention of disease
This is how we trace harmful substances even faster
Smart sensors for a healthy and safe working environment
Applying sensors for preventing occupational diseases in the future
Occupational diseases are still common. Annually, approximately 4000 (former) employees die in the Netherlands and a multiple of that figure become ill as a result of being exposed to hazardous substances... Read more- Artificial Intelligence
- Application areas
- Use cases
- Program line 1: Safe autonomous systems in an open world
- Program line 2: Responsible human-machine interaction
- Secure learning in money laundering detection
- Fair decision making in the job market
- Secure learning in diabetes-2 advice
- Diagnosing for printer maintenance
- Subsidence monitoring
- Fair decision making in justice
- Augmented worker for smart industry
- Energy balancing for smart homes
- Secure learning in oncology research
- Innovation monitoring in policy
- News
- Defence, Safety & Security
- Roadmaps
- Operations & Human Factors
- Climate Chambers for Research into Human Performance
- Desdemona: The ultimate motion simulator
- LT Lab: the TNO learning technology laboratory
- Performance and health monitoring
- Motion sickness and performance
- The neurobiology of Stress
- NetForce Command: an alternative to hierarchical command and control
- Operational military performance in a virtual world
- SUPRA
- Simulation Live Virtual and Constructive
- Concept Development & Experimentation
- IAMD: Integrated Air & Missile Defence
- JROADS
- FACSIM
- Helicopter studies
- Replacement of the F-16
- MARVEL / Comprehensive Approach
- TNO ACE: Advanced CD&E Environment
- Integrated approach to Dutch Royal Navy patrol ships
- Operational analysis during military operations
- SketchaWorld: from sketch to virtual world
- Camouflage
- Information & Sensor Systems
- Digital Resilience of The Netherlands
- LFAS - Low Frequency Active Sonar
- Tanker Remote Vision System
- Platform signatures
- TNO shapes the future of MMICs and RFICs
- CARPET: Computer-Aided Radar Performance Evaluation Tool
- Underwater Warfare and Security
- Wide Area Motion Imagery WAMI
- SAKAMATA: sonar and marine mammals
- PARANOID: rapid information processing
- Mine analysis and threat evaluation
- Ship acoustics and underwater acoustic signatures
- PERSEUS Wind Turbine Radar Interference Assessment tool
- Electromagnetic security
- Operating safely at sea
- Operations at sea
- Ocean Space
- National Security
- A new vision on modernizing the emergency reporting process
- Social media in the security sector
- Automatic Video Compilation and Analysis System (AVACS)
- The Dutch Cyber Cube Method: Improving Human Capital for SOCs and CSIRTs
- Concealed weapon detection
- FP7 Project IMPACT Europe
- Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) policies in Europe
- @MIGO: border control
- Smarter Surveillance, man, machine, synergy
- Cyber Security of Industrial Control Systems
- Privacy enhancing techniques in cyber security data sharing
- Driving Innovation in Crisis Management with DRIVER+
- Crisis management: new challenges, new opportunities
- The learning professional: resilient and deployable for the long term
- Protection, Munitions & Weapons
- Weapons systems control and analysis
- Weapon Effects & Protection Center
- Firepower
- Protection and survivability of vehicles
- Naval protection and survivability
- Infrastructure protection and survivability
- World-class ballistics research
- Countering Explosive Threats
- Materials for protection concepts
- Processing of Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics
- Ammunition Safety
- Ballistic Performance and Personal Protection
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Anticipating accidents, incidents and threats
- Protecting those who protect us
- Process Safety Solutions: Expertise in Handling Hazardous Conditions Safely
- Expertise groups
- Acoustics and Sonar
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection
- Electronic Defence
- Energetic Materials
- Explosions, Ballistics and Protection
- Human Behaviour and Organisational Innovation
- Human Machine Teaming
- Human Performance
- Intelligent Autonomous Systems
- Intelligent Imaging
- Military Operations
- Modelling, Simulation and Gaming
- Networked Organisations
- Radar Technology
- Weapon Systems
- Energy Transition
- Roadmaps
- Renewable electricity
- Towards large-scale generation of wind energy
- The important of support structures
- Wind turbines, fully in motion
- Innovation towards 10-20 MW offshore wind turbines
- Modeling 10MW+ turbines aerodynamically
- Design for Reliable Power Performance (D4REL)
- Optimised wind blade tip design
- Vortex-wake models in wind turbine design
- Modelling improvement wind turbine blades
- Converters for Clean, Low Cost Electricity
- Haliade X: largest wind turbine ever
- New research on blade tip improvements
- Less production per wind turbine, still higher yield
- Logistics innovative strength at home and abroad
- Wind turbine management and maintenance
- Wind farms in synergy with the environment
- Innovative methods for wind measurements
- Keeping the electricity grid stable when there’s a surplus of wind and solar
- Innovation and the rise of solar energy
- Solar farms respecting landscape and nature
- Solar panels on farmland
- Research innovative solar parks
- Better design of solar parks
- Savings on solar farm operations and maintenance
- Floating solar panels on inland waterbodies
- Offshore solar energy
- National Consortium Solar in Landscape
- National Consortium Solar on Water
- Field lab floating solar
- Research into environmental effects of solar, wind energy
- Solar energy on buildings and infrastructure
- Solar-powered cars
- Mass customization
- Solar panel efficiency
- New technologies make PV more versatile
- Webinar: Innovations in solar energy technologies
- Putting Europe back in the lead in solar panel production
- System transition
- The social aspects of the energy transition
- TNO facilities for research into environmental effects of solar and wind energy
- Effective interventions to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy poverty
- Green and Ease under one roof
- Capacity building programme for energy efficiency in industry
- Zooming in on the future to make the right choices
- Scenarios for a climate-neutral energy system
- A fair system without energy poverty
- Financing the energy transition
- LAUNCH
- Successful neighbourhood approach: motivate residents
- Towards a reliable, affordable and fair energy system
- Towards CO2 neutral industry
- Reducing CO2 emissions through capture, use and storage
- SEWGS: revolutionary CO2-reduction technology and blue hydrogen production
- STEPWISE and FReSMe: CO2 reduction solutions for the steel industry
- 3D-printing for CO2 capture productivity increase
- Multi-partner ALIGN-CCUS project
- CEMCAP
- Reduce emissions steel industry
- CO₂ capture with AVR
- On-site CO₂ Capture Services: reducing emissions cost effectively
- Hydrogen for a sustainable energy supply
- Optimising production hydrogen
- Hydrogen storage and transport
- Hydrogen, fuel and feedstock
- H-vision: blue hydrogen to accelerate carbon-low industry
- 15 things you need to know about hydrogen
- World first: Green hydrogen production in the North Sea
- New research centre for hydrogen production
- Identifying the future international chain of green hydrogen
- Opportunities for green hydrogen for the manufacturing industry investigated
- Hydrogen from offshore wind: optimising the electricity grid
- Faraday lab: optimising and scaling up electrolysis
- Blue hydrogen paves the way for green hydrogen
- Biomass to fuels and feedstock
- ARBAHEAT - Sustainable future for coal-fired power stations possible through conversion to biomass
- AMBITION Advanced biofuel production from lignin rich residues
- BECOOL EU Brazilian cooperation on advanced biofuels
- Horti-BlueC - a new EU cooperation on reducing Bio-waste and CO2-footprint in horticulture
- UNRAVEL - valorization of lignocellulosic biomass
- MacroFuels advanced biofuels from seaweed
- BRISK2 Biofuel Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge
- New facility for seaweed processing
- TORWASH technology successful for waste water treatment and recycling plastics
- Biofuels lab: Making transport more sustainable with biofuels
- Take-Off: Sustainable aviation fuels from CO2, water and green energy
- HEREWEAR: Circular textiles from locally-sourced bio-based materials
- Transition to e-fuels: a strategy for HIC Rotterdam
- Re-use of existing infrastructure to accelerate the energy transition
- Sustainable Industrial Heat System
- 4 pioneering routes to a CO2 neutral industry
- Research facility Industrial Electrification accelerates greening of Rotterdam port
- Mollier facility: innovating in industrial drying technology
- Research facility for negative CO2 emissions
- Carnot lab accelerates sustainable industrial heat management
- Using energy and raw materials efficiently in industry
- e-Missi0n MOOI: TNO supports Dow and Shell in electric cracking
- CO2 reduction requires improvement of industrial processes
- Making the industrial energy transition feasible and affordable
- Sustainable subsurface
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands
- 100 years of geological mapping
- GeoTOP
- Sand, gravel and clay extraction
- GIS and other tools for interactive planning
- DINO, Data and Information of the Dutch Subsurface
- BRO: the Dutch Key Register of the Subsurface
- Sustainable use and management Flemish-Dutch subsurface
- Petroleum Geological Atlas of the Southern Permian Basin
- 3D Subsurface mapping of the Dutch offshore
- Geological Survey of the Netherlands across borders
- Towards an energy-producing environment
- Expertise
- Industry
- Roadmaps
- Flexible & Free-form Products
- Space & Scientific Instrumentation
- Semiconductor Equipment
- Smart Industry
- Expertise groups
- Buildings, Infrastructure & Maritime
- Roadmaps
- Safe and Sustainable Living Environment
- Infrastructure
- Sustainable buildings: towards an energy-producing built environment
- Building innovation
- Greenhouse design
- Digitisation in construction
- Smart megastructures
- Expertise groups
- Circular Economy & Environment
- Roadmaps
- Circular economy
- Environment & Climate
- Sustainable Chemical Industry
- Expertise groups
- Healthy Living
- Roadmaps
- Health Technology & Digital Health
- Biomedical Health
- Work
- Youth
- Expertise groups
- Traffic & Transport
- Roadmaps
- SMART and Safe Traffic and Transport
- Societal impact for accessibility and liveability
- Decision-making information based on facts for municipalities
- Making disruptive technologies practicable
- Accessible, healthy and vibrant cities
- CITYkeys – Performance evaluation framework for smart cities and projects
- Big data ecosystems: collaborating on data-controlled cities
- Knowledge mediator puts an end to bickering
- Intact – Climate resilient critical infrastructure
- Organising mobility
- Smart mobility and logistics
- Smart vehicles
- Smart Mobility Research Centre SMRC
- Sustainable Traffic and Transport
- Sustainable Mobility and Logistics
- Improving air quality by monitoring real-world emissions
- Emission factors for road traffic
- Measuring the emissions of powered two wheelers
- Emissions of particulate matter from diesel cars
- Random Cycle Generator
- EnViVer: model traffic flow and emissions
- Measuring real-world emissions with TNO’s Smart Emissions Measurement System (SEMS)
- Measuring the emissions of trucks and buses
- Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Commercial Road Transport
- Measuring the emissions of non-road mobile machinery
- Emission measures in practice
- The transition to CO2-neutral mobility in 2050
- Sustainable Vehicles
- Innovative technologies for zero-emission vehicles
- CO2 reduction by high-efficiency Flex Fuel technology with extremely low emissions
- Actual energy consumption and emissions
- Hydrogen and the fuel cell
- Automotive Battery Research
- Making transport more sustainable by means of electric vehicles
- Energy Efficient Electric Bus E3Bus
- eCoMove
- Hydrogen for internal combustion engines in heavy equipment
- Green performance of ships
- Expertise groups
- Information & Communication Technology
- Roadmaps
- Fast open infrastructures
- Data sharing
- Trusted ICT
- Efficiency, effectiveness, quality and the costs of systems
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Analysis & Policy
- Expertise groups
- Strategic Business Analysis
- Strategy & Policy
- Orchestrating Innovation
- Tech Transfer
Dr. ir. Anjoeka Pronk
Send a question to Dr. ir. Anjoeka Pronk
Your question has been sent.
Sorry! Something unexpected happened. Please try again later.